Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Nim (programming language) VS Xidel

Compare Nim (programming language) VS Xidel and see what are their differences

Nim (programming language) logo Nim (programming language)

The Nim programming language is a concise, fast programming language that compiles to C, C++ and JavaScript.

Xidel logo Xidel

Xidel is a command line tool to download html/xml pages and extract data from them using CSS 3 selectors, XPath 3 expressions or pattern-matching templates.
  • Nim (programming language) Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-31
  • Xidel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-06

Nim (programming language) features and specs

  • Performance
    Nim compiles to C, C++, or JavaScript, which can offer performance close to languages like C and C++. This makes it suitable for high-performance applications.
  • Expressive Syntax
    Nim offers a clean and expressive syntax that is inspired by Python, making it relatively easy to write and read code, which can speed up development.
  • Metaprogramming
    Nim supports powerful metaprogramming features such as macros and templates, which allow for more flexible and reusable code.
  • Memory Management
    Nim gives developers control over memory management while also providing an efficient garbage collector, effectively balancing manual and automatic memory management.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Nim can compile code for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as the web through JavaScript.
  • Interoperability
    Nim has excellent interoperability with C and C++ code, making it easier to incorporate existing libraries and gain performance benefits.

Possible disadvantages of Nim (programming language)

  • Smaller Community
    Compared to more established languages like Python or JavaScript, Nim has a smaller community, which can lead to fewer resources, libraries, and third-party support.
  • Ecosystem Maturity
    While Nim is growing, its ecosystem is not as mature as some other languages. This can mean fewer libraries, tools, and frameworks for various tasks.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its expressive syntax, Nim has unique features and paradigms that can present a learning curve for new developers, especially those coming from more mainstream languages.
  • Less Corporate Backing
    Nim does not have as much corporate support or adoption compared to other languages like Go or Rust, which could influence its long-term viability and industry adoption.
  • Compiler Bugs
    As a relatively young language, Nim's compiler may still have some bugs or less polished features compared to more established languages.

Xidel features and specs

  • Versatile Data Extraction
    Xidel supports extracting data from numerous formats such as XML, HTML, JSON, and various web services which makes it adaptable for different scraping tasks.
  • Powerful Query Languages
    It utilizes powerful query languages like XPath, XQuery, and JSONiq, allowing for complex data extraction and transformation operations.
  • Command-Line Interface
    Its CLI nature makes it suitable for integration into scripts and automatons, which is useful for developers and power users.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, Xidel can be modified and improved by the community, and it’s freely available for anyone to use and redistribute.

Possible disadvantages of Xidel

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For those who are not familiar with XPath, XQuery, or JSONiq, there might be a steep learning curve to effectively use Xidel.
  • Limited GUI
    As a command-line tool, Xidel lacks a graphical user interface, which might not be as user-friendly for those who prefer visual tools.
  • Less Community Support
    Compared to more popular web scraping tools like Beautiful Soup or Scrapy, Xidel has a smaller community, which might make finding help or resources more difficult.
  • Platform Compatibility
    While Xidel is designed to be cross-platform, ensuring it runs smoothly across all operating systems without specific configurations can sometimes be challenging.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Nim (programming language) and Xidel)
Programming Language
90 90%
10% 10
Note Taking
0 0%
100% 100
Generic Programming Language
OOP
86 86%
14% 14

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Nim (programming language) seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 149 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Nim (programming language) mentions (149)

  • I built a hardware processor that runs Python
    > I'm interested to see whether the final feature set will be larger than what you'd get by creating a type-safe language with a pythonic syntax and compiling that to native, rather than building custom hardware. It almost sounds like you're asking for Nim ( https://nim-lang.org/ ); and there are some projects using it for microcontroller programming, since it compiles down to C (for ESP32, last I saw). - Source: Hacker News / 12 days ago
  • Is Rust a good fit for business apps?
    I think Nim might be a good candidate. https://nim-lang.org. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • A 10x Faster TypeScript
    It’s not popular compared to Go/Rust, but many find Nim scratches that itch: https://nim-lang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Transfinite Nim
    FWIW, Nim (the programming language) is certainly interesting and possibly underrated. https://nim-lang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • State of Python 3.13 Performance: Free-Threading
    If not, Nim is probably the closest most 'Python-like' language that is almost as fast as C. https://nim-lang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
View more

Xidel mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Xidel yet. Tracking of Xidel recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Nim (programming language) and Xidel, you can also consider the following products

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