As a new developer using Go, I often wondered how different other compiled languages really are. I was advised to learn Go first because of its simplicity and speed. But what about the others? What are they and what can they offer.
There are many compiled languages, both popular and obscure. In this article, we focus on just four: C, C++, Rust, and Go. Let’s examine what each brings to the table.
Origins and Boom Years
C appeared in 1972, created by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs. It was developed to overcome limitations in B and BCPL and to build the Unix operating system. C provided low level memory access while maintaining structured programming concepts, which made it ideal for operating systems and critical performance software.
C++ was introduced in 1985 by Bjarne Stroustrup. It expanded C with object oriented programming features. The language gained strong popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s during the rise of large scale software systems and game development.
Go was released by Google in 2009. It was influenced by C but designed to reduce complexity. It gained traction in the mid 2010s alongside cloud computing and microservices architecture due to its fast compilation and built in concurrency support.
Rust reached its stable release in 2015 from Mozilla, created by Graydon Hoare. It grew rapidly in the 2020s because of its strict memory safety model and strong performance guarantees. Many companies adopted it to reduce bugs related to memory errors.
Why Choose One and Leave the Other
As software systems became more complex, languages evolved to solve new problems. C provides control and performance. C++ adds abstraction to manage larger systems. Rust enforces memory safety, and Go simplifies concurrency and improves developer productivity.
Each language solves a different problem. C and C++ offer flexibility but require careful management. Rust prevents many classes of bugs at compile time. Go focuses on clarity and fast builds, making it practical for distributed systems and cloud services.
There is no one language that is better. There are trade offs. The best choice depends on what you as the developer want and/or need from whatever language you choose.
Concurrency Benchmark Across Languages
This test computes the sum of squares of the first 100,000,000 numbers split across 4 threads or goroutines. Execution time is measured in milliseconds.
| Language | Sum | Time (ms) |
|---|---|---|
| C | 672,921,401,752,298,880 | 113.4060 |
| C++ | 672,921,401,752,298,880 | 80.5660 |
| Rust | 333,333,338,333,333,350,000 | 1171.7290 |
| Go | 672,921,401,752,298,880 | 48.8229 |
Why This Test Matters
These benchmarks show more than execution speed. They reveal how each language approaches concurrency and numerical safety under the same workload. While C, C++, and Go completed the computation without warnings. You see the computed numbers were too big for int64 so Rust refused silent overflow and required a larger integer type i.e. int128 while the other languages used the values as is.
Conclusion
Compiled languages are not interchangeable tools. Each reflects different priorities in software engineering. C and C++ reward experience and precision. Rust enforces correctness and offers strong safety guarantees. Go values simplicity and productivity.
Understanding these differences allows developers to choose intentionally instead of following trends. The right language is not about which is fastest. It is about which aligns best with the problem you are solving.
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