Node.js and Django from Python are two of the most popular technologies for backend development. When it comes to web development, choosing between Node.js and Python can be challenging as they both have their pros and cons.
Choosing the appropriate technology stack for your project is really important. It will determine the cost and launch schedule of your project, as well as the effectiveness of its maintenance and expansion. Hiring developers for a popular tech stack is much easier than doing so for a less popular stack.
In this article, we’ll cover the key differences between Node.js and Python to help you decide which to choose for your next project.
Python is a popular programming language, while Node.js is not (but is based on JavaScript). Therefore, before comparing Node.js vs. Python, it is essential to learn its fundamentals. Later, we will cover their differences in nine different criteria.
Node.js is an open source, cross-platform, single-threaded runtime environment for building fast and scalable server-side and network applications. Unlike Python, a programming language, Node.js is a runtime environment for running JavaScript outside of the browser.
It is written in C, C++, and JavaScript, and runs on the V8 JavaScript execution engine. Node.js uses a non-blocking, event-driven I/O architecture, which makes it suitable for developing real-time applications.
With tons of tutorials and a huge community, Node.js is relatively easy to get started with – it’s a go-to for beginners in web development. Also, it is scalable. Node.js is single-threaded, which means it can handle a massive number of concurrent connections with high performance and provides great scalability for applications. Then, non-blocking thread execution makes Node.js fast and efficient.
Another advantage is that there is a wide set of open source Node.js packages that can simplify your work. At the moment, there are more than a million packages in the NPM ecosystem.
It has a strong backend, as it is written in C and C++, which makes it faster to run in a server and to add features like networking support. It is also cross-platform, which allows you to create websites for SaaS products, desktop apps, and even mobile apps, and it is an easy choice for developers, as both the frontend and backend can use JavaScript.
Regarding Django, it is a Python framework. Python is an object-oriented, open-source and high-level dynamic programming language. Its dynamic typing and syntax make it one of the best languages for scripting.
Its first version was released in 1991 by Guido van Rossum. According to GitHub, it’s currently the second most popular language, and it’s the most popular for machine learning. Python runs primarily on Google’s App Engine. It also has various libraries and tools that are used and maintained by developers all over the world.
Among its core features, it is a high-level language, free and open source. Anyone can learn it for free, use it to build any kind of web applications, and freely contribute to the language itself and to its packages. Regarding packages, Python provides thousands of modules that allow programmers to build complex applications with ease.
It is also multi-paradigm, which means that it supports both functional and structured programming methods as well as object-oriented programming.
Another important feature is that it has cross-platform support, which means that Python can be written and run on any operating system, including Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Python is very versatile, and you can easily integrate it with C, C++, Java, and other languages. Additionally, it supports a large number of graphical user interface frameworks. Some popular libraries for GUI support include PyQT, Pygame and Tkinter, which you can use them to create a wide range of applications.
Both Django from Python and Node.js (here see) are very popular backend technologies that support many features. They also have large and dedicated developers’ communities.
Speed is a significant parameter to consider before choosing the ideal programming language for your project. An application’s performance reflects how quickly the software completes the task. When an application is scaling, efficiency helps reduce operating costs. The higher a code execution speed is, the faster its response times will be.
Node.js executes code outside of the web browser, making the application more resource efficient and performant. The non-blocking nature of Node.js and running on the V8 engine make it even faster. Therefore, Node.js is one of the preferred options for real-time applications.
Python lacks speed compared to Node.js. Python is an interpreted language, which means that it is not directly converted to machine code, but rather compiled to bytecode first, which results in longer execution time.
In conclusion, Python and Node.js are two very popular and powerful options for developing web and backend applications. There is no direct winner; it depends on whatever problem you are trying to solve. You should also consider how comfortable you would be working with any of these technologies.
