Node.js vs Python: Which Technology Is The Best In 2024?

Python and Node.js — What is More Popular?

From a company’s perspective, the popularity of the technology plays an important role as it determines how easy it will be to ramp up the development team with skilled talent and the number of available resources that can be used to build faster and better.

According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022, almost 68% of developers who have tried working with Python, expressed a willingness to continue using it. The same survey states that 17% of developers who never used Python showed interest in developing with it.

Node.js takes first place among the most common web technologies used by professional developers and those who are learning to code, being chosen by 46% of developers and 52% correspondingly.

The TIOBE index rates Python in first place among other software development languages.

The rating is based on the number of skilled programmers worldwide, available courses, and third-party vendors.

SimilarWeb says that there are 235,917 websites built with Node.js and 122,545 websites built with Python. Python is most frequently used for Science & Education and Heavy Industry & Engineering, while Node.js has better usage coverage with 20+ categories, according to SimilarWeb.

Python vs Node.js — Detailed Comparison

#1 Syntax

Python has a clear and clean syntax which facilitates test-driven development and makes Python a top choice for developers-beginners.

Node.js syntax is similar to the browser’s JavaScript so the developers that are familiar with JavaScript can easily take up Node.js/

#2 Architecture

Node.js

The asynchronous I/O allows apps to overlap processing with I/O operations so that the program should never lock. Contrary to synchronous I/O, in which the thread waits until the whole operation is finished, the asynchronous I/O feature enables the line not to wait during the operations. It enables an app to have more CPU time available to perform other processing in the time when I/O is in the process.

The most critical modules for Node.js are V8 and LIBUV, however, a lot of other libraries are used such as HTTP, C-ARES, Zlib, and OpenSSL.

Most of the Node.js core modules are built around event-driven architecture. It means that when something important takes place in the application, for example, a request hits the server, these event emitters emit named events and event listeners pick the events that developers have set up which as result fires off functions attached to each listener.

Simply put, the event-driven architecture allows directly to respond multiple times to the same event.

Python

Python doesn’t work this way. It doesn’t have asynchronous I/O so the developers have to finish one process before the others can be called in. Though the developers can still use special tools to write asynchronous code in Python.

#3 Scalability

To build an MVP, you can use practically any technology though to add new features and functionalities to the application, you need to choose a language or a learning environment that allows easy scaling.

With Node.js you create a set of microservices and modules which dynamically run their own processes instead of creating a core and scaling everything around it. Also, Node.js web apps can be easily scaled horizontally by adding new nodes and vertically by adding extra resources.

Python loses a bit in the terms of scalability to Node.js. Being built on the Global Interpreter Lock, a Python Interpreter can’t perform a few tasks at the same time. What is more, it’s a dynamically-typed language that is rather a minus when it comes to scaling. Large, complex projects with growing teams might find it difficult to maintain code while scaling.

#4 Libraries & Developing Tools

Python has powerful and large standard libraries, managed by Pip Installs Packages. The libraries are easy to deploy and well-documented. Here you can find some of the most popular.

Node.js possesses a large and comprehensive repository of well-documented libraries that are managed by Node Package Manager which is the largest repository of packages available in the world and has more than 350k packages.

#5 Extensibility

Node.js can be easily customized and extended with a variety of handy tools. For developing HTTP or DNS servers, programmers use built-in APIs.

For frontend development, Node.js integrates with a JavaScript compiler — Babel, for unit testing with Jasmine, for data migration, project monitoring, and process management, it integrates with Log.io, Migrate, and PM2.

Python is quite old programming language so there is a wide variety of popular and useful tools for working with it. Python is often integrated with Sublime Text for syntax extensions and extra editing and Robot Framework to enable test automation. Some of the most popular web frameworks for Python include Django, PyCharm, PyDev, Flask, and CherryPy.

#6 Performance & Speed

First of all, Node.js is built on the V8 engine of Google which is the fastest JS engine. Secondly, Node.js executes the code outside of the browser so the app which is running on the web browser is processing faster and performs better.

Thirdly, non-blocking Node.js architecture makes the execution faster and easier.

Python is widely acknowledged for being rather slow primarily due to its dynamic nature and versatility. Contrary to Node.js, the processes don’t run simultaneously which slows down the processing speed. In terms of speed, Python loses to Node.js though there are some solutions to overcome this problem:

• Using Numba to speed up Python by JIT-compiling to native code;
• Multiprocessing to bypass the GIL limitation;
• Writing own C++ library;
• Using the external libraries that allow multithreading and release GIL.

#7 Learning Curve

Python is probably the most learning-friendly programming language. It reads and writes very similarly to the English language, uses a simplified syntax, and has fewer structural rules, and lines of code.

Node.js is quite easy to learn if the developer has some JavaScript knowledge. Though the concept of event-driven programming that makes Node.js scalable and high-performing, requires some extra time and effort to master.

#8 Universality

Python is a full-stack language so can be used for front-end and back-end development. It’s also cross-platform meaning that a single desktop application will run on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Node.js is used primarily for backend development though for the frontend you can use JS so that backend and frontend share the same programming language.

#9 Community

Being around for more than three decades, Python has a bigger community compared to Node.js. There are millions of Python developers around the world and an immense number of contributors.

Despite being younger, Node.js is also a mature language with a very big and active community.

Again, not only the developers but also business owners benefit from big and growing communities.

#10 Data Processing

Node.js is a better choice for data-intensive applications because of JavaScript’s event loop and seamless I/O operations.

When to Use Node.js

Node.js is a perfect choice for applications that critically require real-time data transmission and must have heavy client-side rendering capabilities such as real-time chatbots and IoT solutions.

When to Use Python

Python can be used for both small and big projects, it’s exceptionally widely used in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and data analytics projects. A great choice of web development tools and Python’s versatility make it widely used for APIs, game, and finance app development.

Conclusion

Python vs Node.js might be a challenging choice, especially taking into account all the advantages that these technologies offer.

Therefore, before making a final decision, we recommend you make a list of features that your end product must have and think about how you’re planning to engineer them.

If you still feel confused or need help in developing your project, our professionals can help you make the choice. Feel free to contact us.