The backend is the server-side part of a website. In other words, it is the part that users don’t see. Without it, a website wouldn’t be able to function properly since this is where the data is generated, organized, and queries are solved. A good backend will also ensure that your website is performant and scalable. If you still hesitate between Node.js and Python for your backend, then this article is right for you!

Node.js vs. Python

Description of Node.js

Node.js was developed on Google Chrome’s V8 engine as a runtime environment based on JavaScript as its language.  Node.js is event-driven, and its input/output architecture model is asynchronous. Node is used to build data-intensive apps like streaming apps, HTTP web servers, and e-commerce sites. It is used to develop both frontend and backend with a single unified stack.

Description of Python

Python is a multipurpose and object-oriented programming language that supports a lot of programming standards. Python is generally used for data science, AI, automation, and the backend.

Features of Node.js

Node architecture is single-threaded and non-blocking, meaning it can process several requests at the same time in parallel without blocking the main thread. In other words, it is asynchronous and scalable. This also makes it fast. Applications built with Node.js are faster and more dynamic.

For its library, Node has an NPM package manager with a vast amount of documentation attached to it. This means information is not hard to obtain.

As Node uses JavaScript both for frontend and backend, productivity is also enhanced.

Features of Python

Python has a clear syntax and is easy to learn and use. Being one of the most popular programming languages, it has a vast ecosystem with a great number of libraries and frameworks readily available. Being so popular, a lot of hosting providers have support for Python natively, including AWS.

Python also is embeddable and extensible, meaning that code can be added from other languages into itself, and it will work, and that new features and functionalities can be added to Python or its frameworks.

Since Python is interpreted line by line and lacks parallel processing, it makes it easier to troubleshoot and debug. Memory management is also simplified. Cross-platform usage is also possible with a Python interpreter.

For Python, PIP is the package manager and library, which is easy to use and reliable, with a formidable amount of documentation available.

Pros and Cons of Node.js and Python

For the pros of Node, building real-time applications that require real-time computation and interactions is a straightforward process. It can read/write from WebSockets, which makes it ideal for developing streaming apps.

The fact that its package manager comes with free modules that can be edited at the same time makes it a good choice for building microservices. Massive storage and outstanding performance are also pros of Node.js.

For the downsides of Node, since it handles many requests at the same time, runtime exceptions often happen, which can make it hard and time-consuming to troubleshoot. The non-blocking nature of Node.js can also lead to performance issues.

Node is not ideal for high-load CPU processes or CPU-intensive apps. Also, it uses callbacks to track finished tasks, which can become a nightmare to handle as a project grows.

For the pros of Python, troubleshooting and debugging are easier in Python than in Node.js. It has a large number of open-source libraries that support a vast set of modules and functions. Libraries are available for more advanced things like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Python’s syntax is simple and readable, which means getting things done with less code. It doesn’t use the curly bracket syntax of JavaScript. It is also a good choice for large projects.

The cons of Python include being slower in processing requests because of the single flow of code. It is not ideal for real-time web applications or asynchronous programming, even though event-driven apps can be built using a module like Asycnio.

Python is also not good for mobile apps on Android, iOS, or hybrid since it doesn’t run natively. Python is also not well suited for game development and 3-D rendering since it is slow.

 Node.js and Python in Real Life

Some of the well-known users of Node.js include Amazon, LinkedIn, PayPal, Netflix, and eBay. Reliability, scalability, and speed are some of the decisive factors mentioned for using Node.js by those companies.

For Python, well-known users include Reddit, Facebook, Google, Spotify, and Nasa. Use cases other than the backend include AI and ML clusters and scientific computation.

Conclusion

As it was demonstrated, choosing between Node.js or Python for developing a backend is heavily dependent on use-case scenarios. For smaller apps that necessitate real-time interactions and fast processing Node.js is the way to go. For large projects that require complex computations or AI and ML clusters then, Python is the way to go.