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  5. Groovy vs Rust

Groovy vs Rust

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Groovy
Groovy
Stacks7.0K
Followers780
Votes212
GitHub Stars5.4K
Forks1.9K
Rust
Rust
Stacks6.1K
Followers5.0K
Votes1.2K
GitHub Stars107.6K
Forks13.9K

Groovy vs Rust: What are the differences?

  1. Syntax and Typing: Groovy is a dynamically typed language with a syntax inspired by Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk, while Rust is a statically typed language with a unique syntax resembling C and Haskell. Groovy allows for dynamic type checking at runtime, making it more flexible but potentially less efficient. On the other hand, Rust enforces strict type checking at compile time, promoting safer code with minimal runtime errors.

  2. Memory Management: Rust utilizes a system of ownership, borrowing, and lifetimes to ensure memory safety without the need for a garbage collector. This allows Rust to achieve high performance while preventing common memory-related bugs such as null pointer dereferencing. In contrast, Groovy relies on Java's garbage collection mechanism, which may lead to performance overhead and memory leaks in certain scenarios.

  3. Concurrency: Rust distinguishes itself with its focus on safe concurrent programming through the concept of ownership and the 'actor model' for parallel execution. This enables Rust to handle concurrency elegantly without data races or deadlocks, making it suitable for building efficient and scalable multi-threaded applications. In contrast, Groovy lacks built-in support for managing concurrency, requiring developers to rely on libraries and frameworks for concurrent programming.

  4. Error Handling: Rust promotes a robust error-handling mechanism through the use of Result and Option types, allowing developers to handle and propagate errors in a more controlled manner. This approach encourages explicit error checking and helps prevent unexpected failures in Rust code. On the other hand, Groovy relies on traditional exception handling techniques similar to Java, which may not provide as fine-grained control over error propagation and handling.

  5. Performance: Rust is renowned for its emphasis on performance, achieving near-C levels of runtime efficiency through its zero-cost abstractions and excellent memory management. This makes Rust particularly well-suited for building system-level applications where speed is crucial. In contrast, Groovy, being a dynamically typed language running on the Java Virtual Machine, may not offer the same level of performance as Rust for certain use cases.

  6. Community and Ecosystem: Rust has a rapidly growing community and a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools, supported by companies like Mozilla and major tech players. This strong community backing ensures continuous development and support for Rust projects. In comparison, Groovy, being around for a longer time, has a mature ecosystem with solid integration with Java libraries and frameworks, making it a favorable choice for Java developers looking to leverage existing Java codebases.

In Summary, Groovy and Rust differ significantly in terms of their syntax, typing, memory management, concurrency, error handling, performance, and community support, catering to distinct use cases and developer preferences.

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CLI (Node.js)
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Manual

Advice on Groovy, Rust

Timm
Timm

VP Of Engineering at Flexperto GmbH

Nov 10, 2020

Decided

We have a lot of experience in JavaScript, writing our services in NodeJS allows developers to transition to the back end without any friction, without having to learn a new language. There is also the option to write services in TypeScript, which adds an expressive type layer. The semi-shared ecosystem between front and back end is nice as well, though specifically NodeJS libraries sometimes suffer in quality, compared to other major languages.

As for why we didn't pick the other languages, most of it comes down to "personal preference" and historically grown code bases, but let's do some post-hoc deduction:

Go is a practical choice, reasonably easy to learn, but until we find performance issues with our NodeJS stack, there is simply no reason to switch. The benefits of using NodeJS so far outweigh those of picking Go. This might change in the future.

PHP is a language we're still using in big parts of our system, and are still sometimes writing new code in. Modern PHP has fixed some of its issues, and probably has the fastest development cycle time, but it suffers around modelling complex asynchronous tasks, and (on a personal note) lack of support for writing in a functional style.

We don't use Python, Elixir or Ruby, mostly because of personal preference and for historic reasons.

Rust, though I personally love and use it in my projects, would require us to specifically hire for that, as the learning curve is quite steep. Its web ecosystem is OK by now (see https://www.arewewebyet.org/), but in my opinion, it is still no where near that of the other web languages. In other words, we are not willing to pay the price for playing this innovation card.

Haskell, as with Rust, I personally adore, but is simply too esoteric for us. There are problem domains where it shines, ours is not one of them.

682k views682k
Comments
Johan
Johan

Jan 28, 2021

Decided

Context: Writing an open source CLI tool.

Go and Rust over Python: Simple distribution.

With Go and Rust, just build statically compiled binaries and hand them out.

With Python, have people install with "pip install --user" and not finding the binaries :(.

Go and Rust over Python: Startup and runtime performance

Go and Rust over Python: No need to worry about which Python interpreter version is installed on the users' machines.

Go over Rust: Simplicity; Rust's memory management comes at a development / maintenance cost.

Go over Rust: Easier cross compiles from macOS to Linux.

397k views397k
Comments
Omar
Omar

Feb 23, 2021

Needs adviceonRubyRubyJavaScriptJavaScriptRustRust

I was thinking about adding a new technology to my current stack (Ruby and JavaScript). But, I want a compiled language, mainly for speed and scalability reasons compared to interpreted languages. I have tried each one (Rust, Java, and Kotlin). I loved them, and I don't know which one can offer me more opportunities for the future (I'm in my first year of software engineering at university).

Which language should I choose?

443k views443k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Groovy
Groovy
Rust
Rust

It is a powerful multi-faceted programming language for the JVM platform. It supports a spectrum of programming styles incorporating features from dynamic languages such as optional and duck typing, but also static compilation and static type checking at levels similar to or greater than Java through its extensible static type checker. It aims to greatly increase developer productivity with many powerful features but also a concise, familiar and easy to learn syntax.

Rust is a systems programming language that combines strong compile-time correctness guarantees with fast performance. It improves upon the ideas of other systems languages like C++ by providing guaranteed memory safety (no crashes, no data races) and complete control over the lifecycle of memory.

Flat learning curve; Powerful features; Smooth Java integration; Domain-Specific Languages; Vibrant and rich ecosystem; Scripting and testing glue
-
Statistics
GitHub Stars
5.4K
GitHub Stars
107.6K
GitHub Forks
1.9K
GitHub Forks
13.9K
Stacks
7.0K
Stacks
6.1K
Followers
780
Followers
5.0K
Votes
212
Votes
1.2K
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 44
    Java platform
  • 33
    Much more productive than java
  • 29
    Concise and readable
  • 28
    Very little code needed for complex tasks
  • 22
    Dynamic language
Cons
  • 3
    Groovy Code can be slower than Java Code
  • 1
    Absurd syntax
  • 1
    Objects cause stateful/heap mess
Pros
  • 146
    Guaranteed memory safety
  • 133
    Fast
  • 89
    Open source
  • 75
    Minimal runtime
  • 73
    Pattern matching
Cons
  • 28
    Hard to learn
  • 24
    Ownership learning curve
  • 12
    Unfriendly, verbose syntax
  • 4
    High size of builded executable
  • 4
    No jobs
Integrations
Java
Java
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Groovy, Rust?

JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

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