Golang Echo Tutorial with Practical Examples

Installation

Firstly, you need to install Echo. Make sure you have Go installed on your machine. Run the following command:

go get github.com/labstack/echo/v4

Creating a Hello World Application

To begin, let’s write a simple “Hello World” application. The code snippet will create a web server that listens on port 8080:

package main

import (
    "net/http"
    "github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
)

func main() {
    e := echo.New()
    e.GET("/", helloWorld)
    e.Start(":8080")
}

func helloWorld(c echo.Context) error {
    return c.String(http.StatusOK, "Hello, World!")
}

Execute the function by simply running your Go application. Validate it by visiting http://localhost:8080.

Output:

Hello, World!

Routing with Echo

Routing in Echo is straightforward. We’ll expand our application with various endpoint examples:

func main() {
    e := echo.New()

    e.GET("/", helloWorld)
    e.GET("/users/:name", getUser)
    e.POST("/users", createUser)

    e.Start(":8080")
}

func getUser(c echo.Context) error {
    name := c.Param("name")
    return c.String(http.StatusOK, "Hello, " + name)
}

func createUser(c echo.Context) error {
    name := c.FormValue("name")
    return c.String(http.StatusOK, "User " + name + " created")
}

Sample Output:

For getting user by name:

Hello, John

For creating a new user:

User John created

Using Middlewares

Middlewares allow you to process requests before they reach your handlers. Here’s how you log every request with a middleware:

func main() {
    e := echo.New()

    // Middleware
    e.Use(middleware.Logger())
    e.Use(middleware.Recover())

    // Routes
    e.GET("/", helloWorld)
    
    // Start server
    e.Start(":8080")
}

Handling JSON Data

Working with JSON is a common task in web development. Here’s how you can handle JSON payload in Echo:

type User struct {
    Name  string `json:"name"`
    Email string `json:"email"`
}

func createUser(c echo.Context) error {
    u := new(User)
    if err := c.Bind(u); err != nil {
        return err
    }
    return c.JSON(http.StatusCreated, u)
}

// Be sure to add the route in your main function
e.POST("/users", createUser)

Sample Output:

{"name":"John Doe","email":"[email protected]"}

Troubleshooting Tips

• Ensure Go is properly installed and the GOPATH is set.
• Check if the port you’re listening on is not already in use.
• For JSON handling, confirm that the content type is set to ‘application/json’.

Conclusive Summary

This golang echo tutorial introduced you to the basics of the Echo web framework with examples. We covered installation, routing, middleware, and JSON data handling. With Echo’s streamlined approach, you can efficiently create web applications. Happy coding!

References

• Official Echo Documentation
• Installing Go