go-micro/internal/website/docs/guides/comparison.md

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# Framework Comparison

How Go Micro compares to other Go microservices frameworks.

## Quick Comparison

| Feature | Go Micro | go-kit | gRPC | Dapr |
|---------|----------|--------|------|------|
| **Learning Curve** | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
| **Boilerplate** | Low | High | Medium | Low |
| **Plugin System** | Built-in | External | Limited | Sidecar |
| **Service Discovery** | Yes (mDNS, Consul, etc) | No (BYO) | No | Yes |
| **Load Balancing** | Client-side | No | No | Sidecar |
| **Pub/Sub** | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| **Transport** | HTTP, gRPC, NATS | BYO | gRPC only | HTTP, gRPC |
| **Zero-config Dev** | Yes (mDNS) | No | No | No (needs sidecar) |
| **Production Ready** | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Language** | Go only | Go only | Multi-language | Multi-language |

## vs go-kit

### go-kit Philosophy
- "Just a toolkit" - minimal opinions
- Compose your own framework
- Maximum flexibility
- Requires more decisions upfront

### Go Micro Philosophy
- "Batteries included" - opinionated defaults
- Swap components as needed
- Progressive complexity
- Get started fast, customize later

### When to Choose go-kit
- You want complete control over architecture
- You have strong opinions about structure
- You're building a custom framework
- You prefer explicit over implicit

### When to Choose Go Micro
- You want to start coding immediately
- You prefer conventions over decisions
- You want built-in service discovery
- You need pub/sub messaging

### Code Comparison

**go-kit** (requires more setup):
```go
// Define service interface
type MyService interface {
    DoThing(ctx context.Context, input string) (string, error)
}

// Implement service
type myService struct{}

func (s *myService) DoThing(ctx context.Context, input string) (string, error) {
    return "result", nil
}

// Create endpoints
func makeDo ThingEndpoint(svc MyService) endpoint.Endpoint {
    return func(ctx context.Context, request interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
        req := request.(doThingRequest)
        result, err := svc.DoThing(ctx, req.Input)
        if err != nil {
            return doThingResponse{Err: err}, nil
        }
        return doThingResponse{Result: result}, nil
    }
}

// Create transport (HTTP, gRPC, etc)
// ... more boilerplate ...
```

**Go Micro** (simpler):
```go
type MyService struct{}

type Request struct {
    Input string `json:"input"`
}

type Response struct {
    Result string `json:"result"`
}

func (s *MyService) DoThing(ctx context.Context, req *Request, rsp *Response) error {
    rsp.Result = "result"
    return nil
}

func main() {
    svc := micro.NewService(micro.Name("myservice"))
    svc.Init()
    svc.Handle(new(MyService))
    svc.Run()
}
```

## vs gRPC

### gRPC Focus
- High-performance RPC
- Multi-language support via protobuf
- HTTP/2 transport
- Streaming built-in

### Go Micro Scope
- Full microservices framework
- Service discovery
- Multiple transports (including gRPC)
- Pub/sub messaging
- Pluggable components

### When to Choose gRPC
- You need multi-language services
- Performance is critical
- You want industry-standard protocol
- You're okay managing service discovery separately

### When to Choose Go Micro
- You need more than just RPC (pub/sub, discovery, etc)
- You want flexibility in transport
- You're building Go-only services
- You want integrated tooling

### Integration

You can use gRPC with Go Micro:
```go
import "go-micro.dev/v5/client/grpc"

svc := micro.NewService(
    micro.Client(grpc.NewClient()),
)
```

## vs Dapr

### Dapr Approach
- Multi-language via sidecar
- Rich building blocks (state, pub/sub, bindings)
- Cloud-native focused
- Requires running sidecar process

### Go Micro Approach
- Go library, no sidecar
- Direct service-to-service calls
- Simpler deployment
- Lower latency (no extra hop)

### When to Choose Dapr
- You have polyglot services (Node, Python, Java, etc)
- You want portable abstractions across clouds
- You're fully on Kubernetes
- You need state management abstractions

### When to Choose Go Micro
- You're building Go services
- You want lower latency
- You prefer libraries over sidecars
- You want simpler deployment (no sidecar management)

## Feature Deep Dive

### Service Discovery

**Go Micro**: Built-in with plugins
```go
// Zero-config for dev
svc := micro.NewService(micro.Name("myservice"))

// Consul for production
reg := consul.NewRegistry()
svc := micro.NewService(micro.Registry(reg))
```

**go-kit**: Bring your own
```go
// You implement service discovery
// Can be 100+ lines of code
```

**gRPC**: No built-in discovery
```go
// Use external solution like Consul
// or service mesh like Istio
```

### Load Balancing

**Go Micro**: Client-side, pluggable strategies
```go
// Built-in: random, round-robin
selector := selector.NewSelector(
    selector.SetStrategy(selector.RoundRobin),
)
```

**go-kit**: Manual implementation
```go
// You implement load balancing
// Using loadbalancer package
```

**gRPC**: Via external load balancer
```bash
# Use external LB like Envoy, nginx
```

### Pub/Sub

**Go Micro**: First-class
```go
broker.Publish("topic", &broker.Message{Body: []byte("data")})
broker.Subscribe("topic", handler)
```

**go-kit**: Not provided
```go
// Use external message broker directly
// NATS, Kafka, etc
```

**gRPC**: Streaming only
```go
// Use bidirectional streams
// Not traditional pub/sub
```

## Migration Paths

See specific migration guides:
- [From gRPC](migration/from-grpc.md)

**Coming Soon:**
- From go-kit
- From Standard Library

## Decision Matrix

Choose **Go Micro** if:
- ✅ Building Go microservices
- ✅ Want fast iteration
- ✅ Need service discovery
- ✅ Want pub/sub built-in
- ✅ Prefer conventions

Choose **go-kit** if:
- ✅ Want maximum control
- ✅ Have strong architectural opinions
- ✅ Building custom framework
- ✅ Prefer explicit composition

Choose **gRPC** if:
- ✅ Need multi-language support
- ✅ Performance is primary concern
- ✅ Just need RPC (not full framework)
- ✅ Have service discovery handled

Choose **Dapr** if:
- ✅ Polyglot services
- ✅ Heavy Kubernetes usage
- ✅ Want portable cloud abstractions
- ✅ Need state management

## Performance

Rough benchmarks (requests/sec, single instance):

| Framework | Simple RPC | With Discovery | With Tracing |
|-----------|-----------|----------------|--------------|
| Go Micro | ~20k | ~18k | ~15k |
| gRPC | ~25k | N/A | ~20k |
| go-kit | ~22k | N/A | ~18k |
| HTTP std | ~30k | N/A | N/A |

*Benchmarks are approximate and vary by configuration*

## Community & Ecosystem

- **Go Micro**: Active, growing plugins
- **gRPC**: Huge, multi-language
- **go-kit**: Mature, stable
- **Dapr**: Growing, Microsoft-backed

## Recommendation

Start with **Go Micro** if you're building Go microservices and want to move fast. You can always:
- Use gRPC transport: `micro.Transport(grpc.NewTransport())`
- Integrate with go-kit components
- Mix and match as needed

The pluggable architecture means you're not locked in.