Building a RESTful API with Go and Gorilla Mux

Prerequisites

• Go installed on your machine. If not, download and install it from the [official Go website](https://golang.org/dl/).

• A code editor like Visual Studio Code or GoLand.

• Basic knowledge of Go programming language.

Step 1: Setting Up the Project

• Create a new directory for your project:

mkdir booksapi
   cd booksapi
   

• Initialize a new Go module:

go mod init booksapi
   

• Install Gorilla Mux:

go get -u github.com/gorilla/mux
   

Step 2: Defining the Book Model

Create a new file named models.go to define the data structure for a book:

package main

type Book struct {
	ID     string `json:"id"`
	Title  string `json:"title"`
	Author string `json:"author"`
	Year   string `json:"year"`
}

Step 3: Setting Up the Main Application

Create a new file named main.go and set up the basic structure of the application:

package main

import (
	"encoding/json"
	"net/http"
	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
)

var books []Book

func main() {
	router := mux.NewRouter()

	// Define routes
	router.HandleFunc("/books", getBooks).Methods("GET")
	router.HandleFunc("/books/{id}", getBook).Methods("GET")
	router.HandleFunc("/books", createBook).Methods("POST")
	router.HandleFunc("/books/{id}", updateBook).Methods("PUT")
	router.HandleFunc("/books/{id}", deleteBook).Methods("DELETE")

	// Start the server
	http.ListenAndServe(":8000", router)
}

Step 4: Implementing the API Endpoints

Now, let's implement each of the endpoints.

1. Get All Books

Add the getBooks function to main.go:

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

2. Get a Single Book

Add the getBook function to main.go:

func getBook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	params := mux.Vars(r)
	for _, item := range books {
		if item.ID == params["id"] {
			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(item)
			return
		}
	}
	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(&Book{})
}

3. Create a New Book

Add the createBook function to main.go:

func createBook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	var book Book
	_ = json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&book)
	book.ID = "b" + string(len(books)+1) // Simple ID generation
	books = append(books, book)
	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(book)
}

4. Update a Book

Add the updateBook function to main.go:

func updateBook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	params := mux.Vars(r)
	for index, item := range books {
		if item.ID == params["id"] {
			books = append(books[:index], books[index+1:]...)
			var book Book
			_ = json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&book)
			book.ID = params["id"]
			books = append(books, book)
			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(book)
			return
		}
	}
	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(books)
}

5. Delete a Book

Add the deleteBook function to main.go:

func deleteBook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	params := mux.Vars(r)
	for index, item := range books {
		if item.ID == params["id"] {
			books = append(books[:index], books[index+1:]...)
			break
		}
	}
	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(books)
}

Step 5: Testing the API

Running the Server

Start the server by running the following command in your terminal:

go run main.go

The server should be running on http://localhost:8000.

Testing the Endpoints

You can use a tool like [Postman](https://www.postman.com/) or [curl](https://curl.se/) to test the endpoints.

• Get all books:

curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/books
   

• Create a new book:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/books -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"title":"Go Programming","author":"John Doe","year":"2024"}'
   

• Get a single book:

curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/books/b1
   

• Update a book:

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8000/books/b1 -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"title":"Advanced Go","author":"Jane Smith","year":"2024"}'
   

• Delete a book:

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8000/books/b1
   

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we built a simple RESTful API using Go and Gorilla Mux. We covered:

• Setting up a Go project with Gorilla Mux.

• Defining models and handling JSON data.

• Implementing basic CRUD operations.

• Testing the API using curl or Postman.

Next Steps

• Implement authentication and authorization.

• Add persistent storage using a database like PostgreSQL or MongoDB.

• Explore more advanced routing and middleware options with Gorilla Mux.