Choosing the Right Back-End Language: TypeScript, Go, or Rust for Your Greenfield Project
2h 10mIntermediate2025-03-04
Authors
Tai Groot
Course details
In this course, instructor Tai Groot helps you evaluate Golang, Rust, and TypeScript to determine which language is best suited for a greenfield project. Compare the performance, scalability, and safety features of these languages, using real-world use cases and examples. Learn to identify and rank relevant project needs as deciding factors towards the language choice. By the end, you will be able to confidently recommend the right programming language for any greenfield project.
Learning objectives
Confidently choose the correct language for new projects.
Justify or argue against refactoring codebases to switch languages.
Communicate intelligently with peers about language design, and about tradeoffs between languages.
Cite real-world examples of companies who publicly pivoted and changed languages for their code, as well as the reasons why.
Recognize the different languages by their syntax.
Learning objectives
Confidently choose the correct language for new projects.
Justify or argue against refactoring codebases to switch languages.
Communicate intelligently with peers about language design, and about tradeoffs between languages.
Cite real-world examples of companies who publicly pivoted and changed languages for their code, as well as the reasons why.
Recognize the different languages by their syntax.
Skills covered
TypeScriptRustGoGoogleProgramming LanguagesOpen SourceSoftware DevelopmentOne-Off
Concepts
0. Introduction
- 01 - Why language choice matters
- 02 - What this course will cover
- 03 - Using Codespaces in this course
1. Why Choose Golang
- 04 - The history of Golang
- 05 - Hello world - Golang
- 06 - Golang in action
- 07 - Simple webserver - Golang
- 08 - When to choose Golang
- 09 - When not to choose Golang
2. Why Choose Rust
- 10 - Overview of Rust
- 11 - Simple CLI - Rust
- 12 - Rust in action
- 13 - When to choose Rust
- 14 - When not to choose Rust
3. Why Choose TypeScript
- 15 - Overview of TypeScript
- 16 - Hello world - TypeScript
- 17 - TypeScript in action
- 18 - Simple websocket server - TypeScript
- 19 - When to choose TypeScript
- 20 - When not to choose TypeScript
4. Language Application Comparisons
- 21 - Comparing Golang vs. TypeScript
- 22 - Comparing Rust vs TypeScript
- 23 - Comparing Golang vs Rust
- 24 - Case study - TurboPack, ESLint, Webpack
5. Domain Decisions
- 25 - Project definition - Stability and refactoring
- 26 - Comparison of ecosystems
- 27 - Deployment requirements
- 28 - Speed
- 29 - Case study - Discord (Go to Rust)
- 30 - Cost
- 31 - Culture
Conclusion
- 32 - Next steps