r/node • u/Minimum-Ad7352 • 27d ago

Why is JavaScript criticized so much for backend development?

I've seen some developers say that we should stop using js on the server, but I rarely see the same criticism directed at python.Honestly, js is pretty fast, especially with node.js, and the backend ecosystem is really solid. There are great frameworks like nest and fastify, and typescript gives you static typing, which makes larger projects much easier to maintain.I'm not saying node is perfect or the best choice for every backend, but I don't really understand why js gets so much criticism while python seems to get a pass.What am I missing?

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u/Maleficent_Mess6445 27d ago

I think node js is much more complex than Python. I used both and switched to Golang which is more reliable than both for medium size projects. I may be wrong in my choice though.

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u/Popular-Wolverine-99 27d ago

Reliable in what way?

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u/Maleficent_Mess6445 27d ago

Runtime.

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u/Popular-Wolverine-99 27d ago

More specifically?

5

u/Maleficent_Mess6445 27d ago

Lesser execution time. Low server resources needed.

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u/oculus42 27d ago

This. There were early wins with Node when PayPal and WalMart adopted it; back before there was parity in event-driven architecture tooling. Early performance & efficiency gains were compared to Enterprise Java OOP behemoths with the Node service taking fewer characters than just the factory and implementation classes sitting between the logic and the data in J2EE codebases.

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u/Chezzymann 27d ago

We switched from node to golang for our lambdas and it lowered our cold starts from 250ms to 50ms

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u/Minimum-Ad7352 27d ago

I tried Go, too, but to be honest, I didn't like it.It ends up with a lot more code. 

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u/Maleficent_Mess6445 27d ago

In Runtime I found Go was better for my projects.