Mojo vs Golang: The Ultimate Difference Guide

Did you know? JavaScript is the most commonly used programming language among software developers around the world. A survey of 2022 reveals that more than 63.6 percent of respondents stated that they used JavaScript.

We’re all living in the era of the technological revolution, where a new piece of technology is introduced to us every single day, and programming languages are no different. There are thousands currently available in the market.

Software developers are constantly looking for new programming languages and better resources to deal with challenges and to add to their skills.

Mojo and Golang (or Go) are two new contenders among programming languages to become favorites of coders. The Blog outlines the differences between them in detail.

UNDERSTANDING THE TWO LANGUAGES: Before comparing the two programming languages, Mojo and Golang. Let’s first understand both the languages and what they bring to the table for a developer. MOJO: Mojo is an open-source programming language, created by Modular Inc. as the language for all AI developers. A company founded by Chris Lattner an ex-employee of Apple, Google, and Tesla, and Tim Davis, a former Google employee.

In May 2023, the first publicly testable version of Mojo was made available online via a hosted playground, although its development goes back to 2022.

The newly designed language is engineered to meet the performance challenges of Python in the domains of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning).

Its fast speed is achieved with the help of smart compiling practices and direct interaction with AI hardware.

GOLANG: Golang, too is an open-source programming language, built for reliable and scalable applications. It was created at Googleby Rob Pike, Ken Thomson, and Robert Griesemer. Golang came into existence in late 2007 as a solution when the developers were facing problems developing software infrastructure at Google.

The language is popular for its clean syntax, ability to multitask, and built-in tools that help build efficient network applications and web services.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MOJO & GOLANG: Here’s the comparison between Mojo and Golang based on some key factors that may affect your decision to pick one for a project.

THE SYNTAX: Golang is popular for its clean and concise syntax. Mojo, on the other hand, has a deep connection with Python, which can be seen in its syntax.

The source codes in Golang are segmented into different packages, you have to use the “import” statement to access the functionality of other packages.

Whereas, Mojo uses indentation just like Python for better readability, organized hierarchy, and code block definitions. There’s no need for those curly braces in the code.

Golang typically doesn’t need a semi-colon after the statements, the compiler does the job for you. For Mojo, it typically requires semi-colons after the statements.

Mojo supports control flow structures as Python does which includes sequential execution, selection (if/else statement), and iteration (for/while loops).

Golang offers similar control flow structures like “if” statements, “while” and “for” loops (including for loops with range for iterating over sequences), and switch statements.

All the functions in Golang are typically defined within the packages using the “func” keyword. The usual format goes like this, func (keyword), then comes the function name, followed by parameters (if any), and finally return type (which is optional).

Mojo allows you to declare functions in two ways either by the “def” keyword (which is inspired by Python) or by using the “fn” keyword (just like Rust).

Structs in Golang are useful to group related variables under a single name. They act like blueprints for creating objects with specific properties. Mojo also uses the “struct” keyword to group related data, providing efficient memory management.

Golang offers some advanced features in its syntax, like Pointers to store memory addresses which are helpful in advanced memory management and speed optimization.

Mojo also uses advanced features in its syntax like the “var” keyword for mutable variables (their value can be changed post-assignment) and the “let” keyword for immutable variables (which can’t be modified).

TYPING DISCIPLINE: Mojo allows you to type in both formats, statically and dynamically. The default mode is the same as Python where you can create a variable with just a name and a value like “name = “Sam””. This leads to more flexibility in the code and quick development time.

Whereas in static typing, you can declare the variable type upfront. This leads to improved performance and early error detection.

Contrary to Mojo, Golang is a pure statically typed language that requires clear variable-type declarations before using them. For example, you have to write “var name string” or “age := 30”. This leads to a clear code and reduced run-time errors.

Golang also supports another method called “Duck” typing. The compiler, in this case, checks whether a variable has the required methods, if so it will allow its usage. This provides flexibility in comparison to other languages that offer strictly static typing.

PERFORMANCE & EFFICIENCY: Mojo takes pride in its performance when it comes to complex computing tasks. Whereas, Golang prioritizes efficient resource management and well-structured code over speed. Earlier, Mojo was claimed to be 35,000x faster than Python. But recently the modular-mojo development team has renewed the claim that it is 68,000x faster than Python by using an 88-core Intel Xeon Platinum 8481C.

Golang’s performance on the other hand is similar to that of C++ and Java. It is typically 40x faster than Python but nowhere near Mojo in the speed comparison.

Mojo uses pioneering technologies like Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (MLIR) and Low-Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) to compile and optimize the codes. This enables high-speed performances in scientific computing, AI, and simulations.

Golang is the way to go when you’re building robust backend systems or web services that need to handle many concurrent requests efficiently.

Golang excels at handling concurrent tasks. Its lightweight processes (goroutines) and communication channels enable you to build highly responsive and scalable applications. Mojo utilizes the concurrency features of the underlying language for asynchronous task execution within its framework.

LIBRARY SUPPORT: Being a new programming language, Mojo’s standard library is still under development. There’s a smaller selection of pre-built libraries compared to other established languages.

Golang, on the other hand, has a rich standard library that covers various functionalities like networking, database access, cryptography, and more. This can save you time by providing pre-built solutions for common tasks.

The Golang Forum and the r/Golang Subreddit are pretty helpful platforms for Golang discussions, news, and finding help from other programmers.

Mojo’s community is also growing but not mature enough, therefore, finding answers to specific questions or troubleshooting issues might require more digging or reaching out to core developers. However, there is an Official Discord Server dedicated to the Mojo community.

Golang takes the clear lead in terms of library and community support. Whereas Mojo’s support ecosystem is smaller at the moment, it’s growing rapidly. The language’s potential for speed and its focus on scientific computing might attract more developers and libraries in the future.

APPLICATIONS: Mojo’s blazing speed and support for vectorization make it a perfect fit for computationally intensive tasks like numerical simulations, data analysis, and scientific computing.

Its focus on performance and potential for future development makes it an intriguing option for building and training machine learning models, especially when speed is crucial.

Golang’s concurrency features, efficient memory management, growing web framework ecosystem, and networking functionalities make it ideal for building scalable and responsive web services, network applications, servers, and distributed systems.

Its simplicity and ability to compile into standalone executables are perfect for creating efficient command-line tools and automation scripts used in DevOps workflows.

IN SUMMARY: Both Mojo and Golang have their pros and cons of usage, it’s up to your preferences what you choose.

If you’re going to solve complex computational tasks, build AI software, and train ML models to perform at incredible speeds then go for Mojo.

If you want to build efficient scalable web services and network applications, choose Golang.