Skip to main content

Set up Go Project

Initialize Go Module and the main.go file​

# Create the project folder and navigate into it
md projectNorthWind; cd projectNorthWind

# Create a Go module
go mod init projectNorthWind

# Add the main.go file

new-item main.go

# Let's add some boilder plate code to main.go
package main

import (
)

# Empty {} func main is fine. However, air won't complete the build without some code in the main func. 

func main () {
log.Println(">>> STARTING API SERVER")

err := http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}
}

Run the Go project to create the go.sum file​

go run .

✔️ Outputs: go.mod file, main.go file

go.mod file containing the module (project name) and go version.

❓ Stopping Point

  1. What does "mod" stand for? What about "sum"?
    mod: module (project name) sum: summary of go dependencies
  2. Purpose of the mod file and sum file? mod: go version info and module name sum: dependencies are listed, close to package.json in node projects.

Optional (Thank me later) - Install air for hot reloading during development​

It's really annoying to run go run . every time there is a change. For that, use Air that automatically reloads the application whenever it detects a change.

Install Air globally using the following command:

go install github.com/cosmtrek/air@latest

Initiate Air in the project directory.

air init

Output: This will create a .air.toml file in the project directory

To use, simply run `air` in the terminal. It will automatically detect changes and reload the application.

```bash
air

Output: This will create a tmp folder and main.exe file


## Let's Review the Folder Structure 

```bash
project-northwind/
│──go.mod (created by `go mod init`)
├──main.go (manually created)    
├──README.md (manually created)
├──cmd/(created by `air`)
│   └──tmp/ (created by `air`)
│      └──main.exe (created by `air`)
│      └──build-errors.log (created by successful end of `air` build)
└── .air.toml (created by `air init`)