Building a REST API in Go

Building a REST API in Go is straightforward and efficient. Go’s powerful standard library makes it easy to create web servers and handle HTTP requests. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to set up a REST API using Go.

Prerequisites

• Go language installed on your machine.
• Basic understanding of Go programming.
• Familiarity with REST principles.

1. Setting Up Your Go Project

Create a new directory for your project:

mkdir my-go-api
cd my-go-api

Initialize a new Go module:

go mod init my-go-api

2. Creating the Main Application File

Create a file named main.go:

touch main.go

Open main.go in a text editor and add the following code:

package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "net/http"
)

var items []string

func getItems(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(items)
}

func createItem(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    var item string
    json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&item)
    items = append(items, item)
    w.WriteHeader(http.StatusCreated)
}

func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/items", getItems)
    http.HandleFunc("/items/create", createItem)

    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

This code sets up basic routes for getting and creating items in your API.

3. Running Your API

To run your application, execute the following command in the terminal:

go run main.go

Your API will start running on http://localhost:8080.

4. Testing Your API

You can test your API using tools like Postman or curl.

4.1. Testing GET Request

To retrieve the list of items, open a new terminal and run:

curl http://localhost:8080/items

4.2. Testing POST Request

To add a new item, use:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '"New Item"' http://localhost:8080/items/create

Replace "New Item" with your desired item name.

5. Conclusion

You have successfully built a simple REST API using Go! With this basic setup, you can expand your API to include more features, such as updating or deleting items and integrating a database for persistent storage. Explore the extensive capabilities of Go for developing robust web applications.

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Dorian Kane

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