Following the recent trends in Blockchain and decentralised application development, smart contracts have become the backbone of countless digital platforms. As web3 enthusiasts know, smart contracts have traditionally been written in languages like Solidity, which we all know has been closely linked with the Ethereum blockchain. However, with the rise of various blockchain ecosystems, there’s a growing demand for alternative programming languages that offer more flexibility, speed, and scalability.

One language gaining attention is Go, also known as Golang, which is widely used in backend systems, cloud infrastructure, and blockchain development. KALP Studio, a leading platform for innovative contract development, has adopted Go as its primary language for building smart contracts due to its robust features and ability to handle high-performance tasks efficiently. In this blog, we will explore the Go programming language, why KALP Studio prefers Go for smart contracts, and compare Go with the popular innovative contract language, Solidity.

Note: This blog provides a quick summary of the blogs previously published under this series. To learn about Golang, Why Golang over
Solidity and more, read our in-depth blogs here:

• Go Programming Language: A Comprehensive Overview
• Why Go is the New Contender in Smart Contract Development
• Building Smarter Contracts: How Go Powers KALP Studio's Blockchain Solutions

What is the Go Programming Language?

Go, also known as Golang, is an open-source programming language developed by Google. Its design prioritises simplicity, efficiency, and scalability, making it ideal for developers who need to build high-performance systems and smart contracts quickly. The language has grown in popularity due to its robust concurrency model, garbage collection, type safety, and the ease of working with multiple processes simultaneously.

Key Features of Go

• Simplicity: Go’s syntax is simple and minimal, making it easy for developers to learn and maintain code.
• Performance: Go is compiled into machine code faster than interpreted languages like Python.
• Concurrency: Go's goroutines allow developers to handle multiple tasks simultaneously without significant performance issues.
• Garbage Collection: Go automatically manages memory, freeing developers from manual memory management.
• Strong Standard Library: Go includes a powerful standard library that simplifies networking, file I/O, and cryptography tasks.

Now that we have an overview of what Go is, before diving into why KALP Studio has chosen Go over other languages, let’s first explore what KALP Studio is all about.

KALP Studio: A Brief Overview

Kalp Studio (as the docs suggest) is a decentralised infrastructure platform designed to build, manage, and scale blockchain applications and networks. It serves as a comprehensive ecosystem for developers, offering a wide range of tools and services that simplify the complexities of blockchain technology, making it more accessible and efficient.

Kalp Studio enables developers to effortlessly create, deploy, and manage DApps by adopting a low-code approach, allowing developers of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned Web 2.0 veterans, to navigate the complexities of blockchain technology with unprecedented ease.

See the official documentation here to learn more about what KALP Studio offers.

Once we have an idea about what KALP Studio is and what it can do, one thing that could come into the developer’s mind is why KALP Studio is choosing Go over any other programming language, to figure that out, let’s dive deeper into this blog.

Why does KALP Studio use Go for Smart Contracts?

KALP Studio, a platform that facilitates the development and deployment of smart contracts, chose Go as the primary language for creating smart contracts due to several reasons:

1. Efficiency and Speed

Smart contracts are inherently bound to the blockchain’s performance, and Go provides an edge with its high execution speed and minimal latency. Go's compiled nature ensures that smart contracts can be deployed and executed quickly on the blockchain.

2. Scalability

Go is designed to support distributed systems and scalable applications. This aligns perfectly with the blockchain environment, where nodes must handle thousands of transactions simultaneously. KALP Studio leverages Go’s concurrency features (like goroutines) to make smart contracts more scalable.

3. Security

Security is critical when developing smart contracts, and Go’s type-safe nature helps avoid common security vulnerabilities that may arise from dynamic typing. KALP Studio’s choice of Go allows for writing smart contracts with a clear, bug-resistant codebase, making it less prone to exploitable errors.

4. Developer Productivity

Go’s minimal syntax and fast learning curve improve productivity. KALP Studio focuses on reducing development time without compromising security or performance, making Go an excellent choice for developers to build, test, and deploy smart contracts efficiently.

Before we conclude our blog, we must answer why we should choose Go over Solidity to create smart contracts. In the next section, we will focus on this exactly.

Why Choose Go Over Solidity for Smart Contracts?

• Performance: Go offers better performance since it’s compiled into machine code, whereas Solidity smart contracts are executed via the EVM, which adds an abstraction layer that can slow execution.
• Concurrency: Solidity does not natively support concurrency, which can be a limitation for complex smart contracts. Go, with its native goroutines, excels in handling simultaneous tasks, making it more efficient for large-scale smart contract systems.
• Scalability: Go's ability to handle complex, distributed systems makes it a better choice for blockchain networks that require scalability.
• Versatility: While Solidity is limited to Ethereum, Go can be used across multiple blockchain frameworks, making it more versatile for developers looking to build smart contracts on different platforms.

Conclusion

With its efficient concurrency model, strong performance, and simplicity, Go is emerging as a powerful alternative to traditional smart contract languages like Solidity. While Solidity remains dominant for Ethereum-based contracts, Go offers versatility and scalability, making it ideal for many blockchain platforms beyond Ethereum. KALP Studio’s decision to use Go for smart contract development reflects its commitment to building secure, fast, scalable, decentralised applications.

By leveraging Go’s robust features, KALP Studio enables developers to create and deploy smart contracts more efficiently without sacrificing performance or security. As blockchain technology continues to evolve, Go is positioned to play an increasingly significant role in shaping the future of smart contract development across various platforms. Whether you're a seasoned blockchain developer or new to decentralised systems, Go offers the tools to build high-performance, reliable smart contracts that meet modern blockchain applications' demands.