A month ago, I became a full-stack developer. I already knew TypeScript inside and out from building Next.js frontends, so the obvious choice for my backend should've been Node.js, right?

Wrong.

I chose Go. And after building multiple projects with it, I'm confident it was the right decision.

Here's why I picked Go over Node.js for my backend, and when you might want to do the same.

The Context: Why Not Just Stick With TypeScript?

Before Go, I was purely a frontend developer working with Next.js, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. When I decided to build full-stack applications, the easiest path would've been Node.js or Bun for the backend. Same language, shared types, faster prototyping.

But as I started building real projects, I noticed something. Most of my projects worked better with a Go backend instead of a TypeScript backend.

That realization changed everything.

The Learning Curve: Nothing Was Easy

Let me be honest. Go wasn't easy to pick up.

Everything in Go is idiomatic. It takes more lines of code. There's no magic. You write things explicitly.

Coming from TypeScript, where you have decorators, advanced type inference, and frameworks that do a lot of heavy lifting, Go felt kind of primitive at first.

But here's what I realized as I kept building. Go makes you understand backend code deeply.

You're not abstracting things away into black boxes. You're writing the actual logic. And because of that, you never get those weird, cryptic errors that make you question reality.

In Node.js, errors can come from anywhere. Nested dependencies, async callback hell, middleware chains you forgot about. In Go, if something breaks, you know exactly where and why.

Why Go Over Node.js?

Concurrency and Parallelism

This is the big one.

Go has goroutines and channels built into the language. Handling concurrent requests, background tasks, or parallel processing is straightforward.

Node.js has async/await, which works fine for I/O-bound tasks. But when you need real parallelism or want to handle thousands of concurrent connections efficiently, Go just handles it better.

For the apps I build, speed matters. Whether it's a SaaS tool or an API-heavy project, I need my backend to scale without breaking a sweat.

Simplicity and Readability

Go has fewer keywords than most languages. There's less syntax to learn. Less "magic" happening behind the scenes.

At first, this felt limiting. But once I got used to it, I realized Go code is predictable.

Node.js codebases can get chaotic fast. Different developers use different patterns. Some use classes, some use functions, some mix both. Add in a bunch of npm packages with their own styles, and suddenly your codebase feels like a mess.

Go code looks the same everywhere. If you know Go, you can read any Go project and understand it quickly.

Error Handling (Yes, Really)

I'll admit it. I hated Go's error handling at first.

The if err != nil pattern is everywhere. It's manual. It's verbose. It feels tedious.

But here's what changed my mind. It forces you to think about errors.

In Node.js, you can throw errors and hope some middleware catches them. Or worse, you forget to handle an error and your server crashes silently.

In Go, you handle errors explicitly. You write specific error messages. You track exactly where things went wrong.

I built helper functions like SendJson and SendError to simplify formatting responses, which made error handling feel much cleaner. Now, I prefer Go's approach because it makes debugging so much easier.

The Stack: Why SQLc and PGX?

For my database layer, I use PostgreSQL with PGX and SQLc.

Why PGX?

PGX is more performant and has better tooling. It supports connection pooling with pgxpool, which is essential when you're handling multiple concurrent requests.

The standard database/sql package works, but PGX just does it better, especially for Postgres-specific features.

Why SQLc Over ORMs?

ORMs like GORM or Prisma are convenient, but they hide too much.

When your app scales, ORMs become a problem. You can't optimize queries easily. Debugging becomes a nightmare because you don't know what SQL is actually running.

SQLc gives you the best of both worlds. Type-safe query generation like an ORM, full control over your SQL like raw queries, and an organized file structure with queries and generated code in one place.

You write raw SQL, and SQLc generates Go code with full type safety. No hidden abstractions. No surprises.

How It Integrates With Next.js

My Go backend is a REST API using the Chi router.

Chi is lightweight, fast, and straightforward to set up. It's not as feature-packed as Express or NestJS, but that's the point. You build exactly what you need, nothing more.

My Next.js frontend consumes the API like any other client. Clean separation. No shared runtime. No monolithic architecture.

Performance and Developer Experience

Performance matters for the apps I build. Whether it's real-time features, handling heavy traffic, or just keeping response times low, Go delivers.

But beyond performance, the developer experience is what keeps me using Go.

I get angry at TypeScript sometimes. Type errors that don't make sense. Complex generics that break. Dependency conflicts.

I never get angry using Go.

It's simple. It's predictable. It just works.

The Downsides of Go

Go isn't perfect. Here's what I wish was better.

The ecosystem isn't as mature as Node.js. Node has frameworks like NestJS that give you structure out of the box. Authentication, validation, dependency injection, it's all there.

Go doesn't have that. You build a lot manually.

That's not always bad. It teaches you how things work. But it does take more time.

Go is also verbose. There's no getting around it. A feature that takes 20 lines in Node.js might take 50 in Go.

But here's the thing. Those 50 lines are easier to understand and debug than the 20.

Still, if you're prototyping fast or building something quick, Node.js might be faster.

Would I Still Choose Go Today?

Yes.

But I'd also consider NestJS for certain projects, especially when I need a fully-featured backend framework with less setup.

For most of my work though? Go is the right tool.

It's fast. It's simple. It scales. And most importantly, it makes me a better developer by forcing me to understand what's actually happening under the hood.

Final Thoughts

Choosing Go wasn't about following trends or picking the "best" language. It was about finding the tool that fit my projects and my mindset.

If you're deciding between Go and Node.js, think about what matters to you. Do you value simplicity over convenience? Are you building something that needs to scale? Are you willing to write more code upfront for better maintainability?

If yes, Go might be your backend language too.

And if you're 15 like me and people tell you to "take your time," ignore them. Start building now. Pick a stack. Learn it deeply. Ship something real.

The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is today.