Comparison matrices

Twelve widely used languages compared on the same rows across three matrices: language features, concurrency support, and interoperability and tooling. Each matrix is horizontally scrollable and keeps its metric column in view.

How to read these tables. Yes means the facility is provided by the language or its standard library; Partial means it is available with restrictions, through a convention, or only in recent versions; No means it is absent or requires a third-party library. No cell ranks a language: absence of a feature is a design decision as often as a gap.

Language features¶

Rows describe the language and its standard library, not third-party packages.

Metric	C	C++	Java	C#	Go	Rust	Swift	Kotlin	Python	JavaScript	TypeScript	Haskell
Identity
First appeared	1972	1985	1995	2000	2009	2010	2014	2011	1991	1995	2012	1990
Type checking	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static	Dynamic	Dynamic	Static	Static
Type inference	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Memory model	Manual	RAII	GC	GC	GC	Own	ARC	GC	RC+GC	GC	GC	GC
Null in the type system	No	No	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Data modelling
Algebraic data types	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	No	Yes	Yes
Exhaustive pattern matching	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	No	Partial	Yes
Generics	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes
Abstraction
Operator overloading	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
First-class closures	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Immutability by default	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Partial	No	No	No	Yes
Compile-time metaprogramming	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	No	Partial	Yes

Sources: language specifications and standard library documentation for each language's current stable release.

Concurrency¶

Concurrency facilities provided by the language or its standard library.

Metric	C	C++	Java	C#	Go	Rust	Swift	Kotlin	Python	JavaScript	TypeScript	Haskell
Execution units
OS threads exposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Lightweight tasks	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
async / await	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
Coordination
Channels in the standard library	No	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	Yes
Actor isolation in the language	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Compiler-checked data-race safety	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Partial
Runtime serialises user code	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Green, amber, and grey markers carry text labels so the table remains readable without colour.

Interoperability and tooling¶

Interoperability with existing native code, and the tooling shipped with the toolchain.

Metric	C	C++	Java	C#	Go	Rust	Swift	Kotlin	Python	JavaScript	TypeScript	Haskell
Native interoperability
C ABI, calling out	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes
C ABI, callable from C	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	No	No	Yes
C++ interoperability	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	No	No	No
Stable binary interface	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Shipped tooling
Official package manager	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Official formatter	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Official language server	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Partial
REPL in the toolchain	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes

“Official” means maintained by the same organisation or working group as the compiler.

What has moved¶

The matrices describe current stable releases. This is what that qualification is worth over six years.

Figure 1. Cells in these matrices that changed value, and when. Every row below was a No in an earlier edition of the same table, which is the argument against reading any matrix as a permanent property of a language. Sources: each language's release notes.

Caveats¶

Versions move

Feature rows reflect the current stable release. Several cells that read No a decade ago now read Yes — generics in Go, pattern matching in Java and Python, nullability in C#.

Implementations differ

Rows describe the reference implementation. Python's global interpreter lock is a CPython property, not a language requirement, and recent CPython releases make it optional.

Feature counts are not scores

Totalling the Yes cells produces a number with no meaning. C's short row reflects a deliberately small language that has outlasted most of its replacements.