Updated March 4, 2023

Difference Between C++ and Go

C++ is an object-oriented and general-purpose programming language. It is used mostly for system programming, embedded programming, and largely complex systems. It has been the third most used programming language after Java, and C. GO is a programming language. It has static, strong and structural typed discipline. Go programming language is open-source. It supports multiple cross-platform operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Macintosh OS, etc.

C++

It is procedural, multi-paradigm, functional and first appeared in the year 1985. It was designed by Bjarne Stroustrup and was started developing at Bell Labs. The file name extensions are like .c, .cc, .cpp, .c++, .h, .hh, .hpp etc.C++ was standardized by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) with the latest version published in the year 2017. C++ influenced many programming languages like Java, C#.

Go

GO is a programming language that was created at Google in the year 2009. It was designed and developed by Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, and Robert Griesemer. Go programming language is open-source and was licensed under the BSD license. Like C++ and Java, Go supports statically typing and scalability in the case of large systems. The C language traditionally inspired it. It has simplicity and safety in terms of syntax and programming features.

Head To Head Comparison Between C++ and Go (Infographics)

Below is the top 9 difference between C++ vs Go

Key differences between C++ and Go

Both are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major difference:

C++ is a middle-level language that is being run on various cross-platform operating systems such as Windows, UNIX, Macintosh OS, etc., whereas Go programming language is often called Golang, which is having procedural, object-oriented, concurrent and multi-paradigm features, etc.
C++ supports data hiding, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism and also has main core components like Standard Template LibraryC++ Standard Template Library(STL), whereas Go supports environment support features like that of dynamic languages.
C++ supports portability which has ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard, which the major C++ IDE manufacturers are supporting, whereas Go has different data types such as Boolean, String, Numeric, Derived, etc.
C++ supports different operators such as Arithmetic Operators, Logical Operators, Bitwise Operators, Relational Operators, Assignment Operators, and Miscellaneous Operators, whereas Go supports all the same operators as existing in C++.
C++ supports Files and Streams, Exception Handling, Dynamic memory, Namespaces, Templates, Pre-processors, and Multi-threading, etc., whereas Go supports an inbuilt concurrency feature with channels and lightweight processes.
C++ has features such as Namespaces, References, Templates, implicit method overloading, whereas Go has different features like Pointers, Structures, Slice, Range, Maps, Recursion, Functions, Interfaces, Type Embedding and Error Handling along with fast compilation process.
In C++, calling a method will be decided at compile-time, whereas in Objective C, calling a method will be decided at runtime, whereas Go has beneficial features like operator overloading (indirectly and does not support), type inheritance, assertions, generic programming, circular dependencies across different packages and pointer arithmetic.
In C++, objects are null and cannot be handled safely in all cases where a dereference is used; then a Run-Time error will be thrown, whereas Go programming language has error handling features like handling simplified repetitive errors by implementing type checking and error structs to avoid errors during runtime.
In C++, operator overloading is supported and is more portable and simple, whereas the Go programming language does not support operator overloading as it will increase complexity, and the same can be implemented over structures to avoid complexity by using pointer receivers.
In C++, the memory is allocated during runtime at the heap of the objects, whereas Go programming language has memory allocations over Heap, Stack, and Data Segments and also uses garbage collection that in turn improves the performance of the programs or applications.
In C++, class objects are declared normally. They are similar to that of general object-oriented programming languages. In contrast, Go has struct types rather than classes for creating and managing data in objects and has access modifiers to control the access to and from objects and its’ attributes.
In C++, the Standard Library contains two parts which are Standard Function Library and Object-Oriented Class Library, whereas Go does have any feature like an object, but it just checks the data type of structure defined called ‘struct’.

C++ vs Go Comparison Table

The primary comparison is discussed below:

The basis of comparison	C++	Go
Design	It was designed to be object-oriented and procedural	It was designed and influenced by the C programming language with simple features.
Inheritance	It allows multiple inheritances	It does not allow multiple inheritances as it does not support a class-based declaration.
Optimization	It provides SIMD optimizations during its compilation process	It does not provide optimizations in its compiler
Classes	Structs and classes are the same in C++	Go does not support class-based declaration but instead has Interfaces to support objects.
License	It is open source project 2.0	It is licensed under the BSD license
Type	It is static typing	It is a static and strong typing discipline
Polymorphism	Parametric polymorphism in C++ is checked at compile time	Polymorphism does not exist in the Go programming language
Boolean Operators	C++ uses true, false and bool	Go has logical operators instead of boolean
Templates	C++ has STL (Standard Template Library) libraries	Go does not have template libraries

Conclusion

C++ is a programming language mostly used for hardware programming and embedded devices nowadays and also being used in most system programming where large software systems can be developed. Go is mostly used for the development of large software systems, especially inside Google, to develop and maintain in-house projects, whereas C++ is open source and can be used for most of the hardware and embedded applications but lacks insecurity in the usage of programming features and data being managed.

C++ is being used for most desktop applications development by Microsoft and most modern applications. Objective C is used to develop Swift applications. Go programming language can be used to write code and maintain infrastructure and platform-level tools and applications. I hope now you must have got a fairer idea of both C++ vs Go. Stay tuned to our blog for more articles like these.

Quiz Result
Total Questions	Correct Answers	Wrong Answers	Percentage

Difference Between C++ and Go

C++

Go

Head To Head Comparison Between C++ and Go (Infographics)

Key differences between C++ and Go

C++ vs Go Comparison Table

Conclusion

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