Heldinhow/go-api

Go API Development

Overview

Go is excellent for building high-performance APIs. Its concurrency model, fast compilation, and simple deployment make it ideal for microservices and REST APIs.

Process

1. Project Setup

mkdir myapi && cd myapi
go mod init github.com/username/myapi
# Choose router: chi, gin, fiber, or stdlib
go get github.com/go-chi/chi/v5

2. Structure

├── cmd/
│   └── api/main.go
├── internal/
│   ├── handlers/
│   ├── models/
│   └── repository/
├── go.mod
└── go.sum

3. Handlers

func GetUsers(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    users, err := repository.GetAll()
    if err != nil {
        http.Error(w, err.Error(), 500)
        return
    }
    json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(users)
}

4. Middleware

• Logging (zerolog, zap)
• Authentication (JWT, OAuth)
• Rate limiting
• CORS

5. Database

• Use GORM, sqlx, or raw SQL
• Implement repository pattern
• Connection pooling built-in

Examples

• REST API: CRUD with chi router
• Microservice: gRPC + HTTP gateway
• Auth Service: JWT + Redis sessions

Limitations

• Learning curve for goroutines/channels
• Error handling verbose without helpers
• Dependency management requires discipline
• Not as expressive as Python/Ruby for quick prototyping