Goland vs Lightly IDE: Comparing Two Popular IDEs for Go Development
Published: 2023-06-14 15:20:53

Go is a programming language developed by Google, which has gained significant popularity due to its simplicity and ease of use. As the popularity of Go has grown, so has the number of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) available for developers to use.

An IDE is a software application that provides a comprehensive environment for developers to write, test, and debug their code. IDEs have become an essential tool for any developer, offering features such as code highlighting, autocompletion, and debugging, which significantly improve productivity. In this article, we will compare two of the most popular IDEs for Go development, Goland, and Lightly IDE.

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Choosing the right integrated development environment (IDE) is crucial for developers to write efficient and effective code.

An IDE can significantly affect a developer's productivity and coding experience. A good IDE not only provides coding assistance, but also offers debugging tools, testing frameworks, and integration with version control systems.

With the right IDE, developers can write, test, and debug their code faster and more accurately, ultimately improving the quality of their work.

Goland and Lightly IDE are two popular Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) used for Go development. 

Goland is developed by JetBrains, a well-known company for creating developer tools such as IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and WebStorm. Goland provides advanced coding assistance, navigation, and debugging features for Go developers.

Lightly IDE, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and ease of use, providing essential features for Go development without overwhelming the user with unnecessary functionalities. It is developed by Code Leap, a startup company founded in 2019, which aims to make software development more accessible to everyone. In this article, we will compare these two IDEs based on their features, performance, and user experience, to help you choose the one that suits your needs.

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## Goland
Goland is an advanced Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that provides a range of features for Go development. Some of these features include:

- Advanced Code Analysis and Navigation: Goland includes a range of features that help developers navigate and analyze their code. This includes features like finding usages, inspecting variable values, and highlighting syntax errors.
- Refactorings and Code Generation: Goland provides a range of automatic and manual refactorings that help developers improve their code quality and maintainability. It also includes code generation features that can generate code for common patterns and tasks.
- Go Modules Support: Goland provides strong support for Go modules, which are a way of managing dependencies in Go projects. This includes features like automatic imports, version selection, and conflict resolution.
- Debugger and Profiler: Goland includes a powerful debugger that can help developers find and fix bugs in their code. It also includes a profiler that can help identify performance issues in their code.
- Test Runner and Coverage Tool: Goland includes a test runner that can run tests and benchmarks for Go code. It also includes a coverage tool that can help developers identify code that is not covered by tests.
- Version Control Integration: Goland provides integration with popular version control systems, such as Git and SVN. This includes features like branch visualization, commit history, and merge conflict resolution.

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## Lightly IDE
Lightly IDE is a cloud-based development environment that provides a powerful and flexible platform for coding and collaboration. Besides its web platform, Lightly IDE is also available on iPad (and coming soon for Android devices!)

Besides Go, Lightly IDE supports a wide range of programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, C, C++, Java, PHP, and Ruby. It also supports different frameworks, as well as seamless integration with popular version control systems.

Some of the features in Lightly IDE include:

- Start with no setup, focus on coding: Lightly IDE aims to provide a seamless coding experience by eliminating the need for complex setup processes. With Lightly IDE, developers can jump right into coding without spending time on configuring environments or installing dependencies. This allows users to focus on their code and be productive from the start.
- Code with Smart AI Assistant: Lightly IDE incorporates a Smart AI Assistant that assists developers in their coding tasks. The AI Assistant provides intelligent suggestions, auto-completion, and code snippets, helping to speed up coding and reduce errors. It understands the context and programming language-specific patterns, making it a valuable tool for developers of all skill levels.
- Host all your projects in the cloud: Lightly IDE offers cloud hosting capabilities, allowing developers to store and manage their projects directly in the cloud. This feature provides easy access to projects from any device with an internet connection. It also enables seamless collaboration and sharing of code between team members.
- Automated detection and installation of dependencies: Lightly IDE simplifies the process of managing project dependencies. It automatically detects the required dependencies based on the code and assists in installing them, reducing the manual effort required. This feature saves time and ensures that projects have all the necessary components to run smoothly.
- Real-time collaboration and remote sharing for teams: Lightly IDE facilitates real-time collaboration among team members, regardless of their physical locations. Multiple developers can work on the same codebase simultaneously, seeing each other's changes in real-time. This feature encourages teamwork, enables faster development cycles, and enhances overall productivity.
- All-in-one IDE for development, building & deployment: Lightly IDE aims to provide a comprehensive environment for the entire software development lifecycle. It supports various programming languages and provides tools for coding, debugging, building, and deployment. Developers can perform tasks like compiling, testing, and deploying their applications directly from the IDE, streamlining the development process.

## Comparison between Lightly IDE and Goland
When comparing Lightly IDE and GoLand, both are integrated development environments (IDEs) but have different focuses and features. Here's a comparison of key areas between the two:

### Language Support: Lightly IDE vs Goland
Lightly IDE aims to provide support for multiple programming languages, catering to a broader range of developers who work with diverse languages. It recognizes the importance of offering a versatile coding environment that accommodates different programming needs. Lightly IDE supports popular programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, Ruby, PHP, and more. It provides language-specific features, syntax highlighting, code completion, debugging capabilities, and integrations with relevant libraries and frameworks for each supported language. The goal of Lightly IDE is to offer a comprehensive coding experience for developers working across various programming languages.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4fmfbe186biikyyoyjcs.png)


GoLand, on the other hand, is specifically designed for Go programming language development. It focuses solely on providing a dedicated and optimized development environment for Go developers. GoLand offers extensive support and a rich set of tools specifically tailored for Go programming. It includes intelligent code completion that understands Go-specific context, efficient code navigation features, automated refactoring options, testing and debugging capabilities for Go code, and Go-specific tools like gofmt, go vet, and go mod. GoLand's emphasis is on delivering a specialized and streamlined coding experience for Go developers, allowing them to leverage language-specific features and maximize productivity.

### AI Assistance: Lightly IDE vs Goland
Lightly IDE incorporates a Smart AI Assistant that serves as a built-in intelligent coding companion. The AI Assistant in Lightly IDE provides several features to enhance coding productivity:
1. Intelligent Suggestions: The AI Assistant analyzes the code context and offers intelligent suggestions based on common coding patterns, libraries, and frameworks. It can suggest code snippets, functions, or variable names, speeding up the coding process.
2. Auto-completion: Lightly IDE's AI Assistant provides auto-completion capabilities that suggest code elements as you type. It predicts the intended code based on the context, reducing the need for manual typing and helping to avoid syntax errors.
3. Code Snippets: The AI Assistant offers a repository of pre-defined code snippets that can be easily inserted into the code. This saves time by providing ready-to-use code templates for common programming tasks.
These AI-powered features in Lightly IDE aim to improve coding efficiency, reduce errors, and provide assistance throughout the development process.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lsawctnty0i44ehsrndw.png)


GoLand does not have a built-in AI assistant like Lightly IDE. However, it offers a range of intelligent coding aids specifically designed for Go programming:

1. Intelligent Code Completion: GoLand provides context-aware code completion for Go programming. It suggests relevant functions, types, and packages based on the current code context, making it easier and faster to write Go code.
2. Code Navigation: GoLand offers efficient code navigation tools that allow developers to quickly jump to function definitions, variable usages, and declarations within the Go codebase. This facilitates code exploration and helps developers understand the code structure better.
3. Refactoring Tools: GoLand provides automated refactoring options for Go code. It offers code transformations like renaming variables, extracting functions, and reorganizing code structure, ensuring code consistency and maintainability.

Although GoLand lacks a dedicated AI assistant, it compensates with Go-specific intelligent coding aids tailored to the Go programming language. These aids focus on improving the coding experience for Go developers and streamlining Go code development tasks.

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### Project Hosting: Lightly IDE vs Goland
When comparing Lightly IDE and GoLand in terms of project hosting, there are significant differences in their approaches. 

Lightly IDE offers built-in project hosting capabilities in the cloud. This means that developers can store and manage their projects directly within the IDE's cloud infrastructure.

By hosting projects in the cloud, developers can access their code and work on it from any device with an internet connection. This provides flexibility and convenience, allowing developers to code from different machines without the need for local setups.

Lightly IDE's cloud hosting enables seamless collaboration among team members. Multiple developers can work on the same project simultaneously, making real-time changes that are visible to the entire team. Hosting projects in the cloud also facilitates sharing code with others outside the team. Developers can easily provide access to their projects to clients, stakeholders, or open-source contributors, enabling remote collaboration and sharing.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ystajcg4s0ozm5inj3f1.png)


GoLand does not have built-in project hosting capabilities. However, it integrates well with popular code repository hosting platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Developers can utilize these platforms to host their projects, collaborate with team members, and manage code repositories. These platforms provide features for remote access, code reviews, and collaboration with external contributors.

### Dependency Management: Lightly IDE vs Goland
Lightly IDE aims to simplify the process of managing project dependencies by automating the detection and installation of required components. 

Lightly IDE analyzes the code and automatically detects the dependencies required for the project. It identifies the libraries, frameworks, or packages needed for the code to run correctly. Once the dependencies are detected, Lightly IDE assists in the installation process. It can automate the installation of the required dependencies, saving developers the effort of manually finding and installing them.

GoLand, on the other hand, supports Go modules for dependency management. Go modules are a built-in feature of the Go programming language that simplifies dependency tracking and versioning, allowing developers to manage project dependencies using the go.mod and go.sum files. Developers can create, update, and remove dependencies directly within the IDE.

### Collaboration and Sharing:
Lightly IDE enables real-time collaboration, allowing multiple developers to work simultaneously on the same codebase. Changes made by one team member are instantly reflected for all other collaborators, ensuring that everyone is working on the most up-to-date version of the code.

Besides its built-in collaboration feature, Lightly IDE also integrates with version control systems like Git, enabling smooth collaboration through code repositories. Developers can easily manage branches, commit changes, and merge code within the IDE. This integration ensures that code changes are tracked, reviewed, and properly merged, maintaining code quality and facilitating collaboration.

Overall, Lightly IDE's collaboration feature is an additional lightspot to promote teamwork, enhance productivity, and streamline the development process for teams working on the same codebase. Real-time collaboration, remote sharing, seamless communication, version control integration, conflict resolution, and access control are key aspects of Lightly IDE's collaboration capabilities.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3i9pfsxaaqb8vn3umbnx.png)


## Which IDE is better for Go Development?
When it comes to Go development, both Goland and Lightly IDE are popular choices among developers. Goland is a paid IDE from JetBrains that comes with a lot of advanced features, while Lightly IDE is an cloud-based, lightweight IDE that is focused on simplicity and ease of use.

Choosing between them ultimately depends on your personal preference and the specific needs of your project. If you are looking for a fully-featured IDE with a lot of advanced tools, Goland is a great choice. However, if you prefer a simple and lightweight IDE that is easy to use and customize, Lightly IDE is the way to go. Ultimately, both IDEs are excellent options for Go development, and the choice between them will come down to your personal preferences and requirements.

Here's a summary of the pros and cons of each IDE:

### Goland

Pros:
- Developed by JetBrains, known for producing high-quality IDEs.
- Smart code completion that saves time when coding.
- Integration with popular version control systems like Git and GitHub.
- Debugging tools that make it easy to identify and fix errors.

Cons:
- Subscription-based pricing can be expensive for some users.
- Some users report performance issues when working with large codebases.
- Can be overwhelming for beginners due to the large number of features.

### Lightly IDE

Pros:
- Cloud-based, making it accessible from any device anywhere.
- Lightweight and fast, even when working with large codebases.
- Built-in terminal and file manager for improved workflow.
- Simple and easy-to-use interface, perfect for beginners.

Cons:
- Limited features compared to Goland, which may not be sufficient for some users.
- Limited integration with other tools and plugins.
- Smaller community, which means fewer resources and support options.

Overall, both IDEs have their strengths and weaknesses. Goland is a powerful IDE with a wide range of features that make it a great choice for experienced developers. Lightly IDE, on the other hand, is a lightweight and easy-to-use IDE that is perfect for beginners and users who prefer a simpler interface.

Both Goland and Lightly IDE are great options for Go development. If you are looking for a more feature-rich IDE with extensive customization options, Goland is the way to go. On the other hand, if you need a lightweight and easy-to-use IDE, Lightly IDE is the better choice. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preferences and needs. We recommend trying out both IDEs to see which one suits you best.

Read more: [Goland vs Lightly IDE: Comparing Two Popular IDEs for Go Development](https://www.lightly-dev.com/blog/goland-vs-lightly-go/)