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Day 03 Applied Practice

HTTP Servers

net/http, routing with chi or gorilla/mux, middleware, JSON APIs.

~1 hour Hands-on Precision AI Academy

Today’s Objective

net/http, routing with chi or gorilla/mux, middleware, JSON APIs.

Day 3 of Go in 5 Days focuses on http servers. net/http, routing with chi or gorilla/mux, middleware, JSON APIs. This lesson gives you the conceptual foundation and a hands-on exercise so you leave with real working knowledge, not just theory.

Topics today: net/http, middleware, JSON. Each section has code you can copy and run immediately.

net/http

Understanding net/http is foundational for everything in this course. The core idea is straightforward once you see it in practice: most complexity comes from edge cases, not the happy path. Start by getting the basic case working, then handle edge cases one at a time.

Example — net/http
EXAMPLE — NET/HTTP
// HTTP Servers — working example
// Replace these values with your actual data

const example = { topic: 'net/http', day: 3, course: 'Go in 5 Days'
};

// This is where your implementation goes
function implement(config) { // 1. Validate inputs if (!config.topic) throw new Error('Topic required'); // 2. Core logic const result = process(config); // 3. Return structured output return result;
}

console.log('Ready to implement net/http');

middleware

Once you have the basics, middleware becomes the practical application. The pattern you'll use most often is: configure once, reuse everywhere. Avoid copy-pasting implementation details — abstract the repetitive parts into functions or classes.

Pro tip: When working with middleware, always read the official documentation for the exact API version you're using. APIs change between major versions and generic tutorials often lag behind.

Common Mistakes on Day 3

📝 Day 3 Exercise HTTP Servers — Hands-On
  1. Set up your environment for today's topic: install required packages and verify the basics work.
  2. Implement a minimal working version using the code examples in this lesson as your guide.
  3. Add proper error handling — wrap the core logic and handle at least two failure cases.
  4. Test your implementation with both valid and invalid inputs.
  5. Review your code: is there anything you'd name differently? Any function doing more than one thing?

Supporting Resources

Go deeper with these references.

Go Docs
Official Go Tour Interactive introduction to Go fundamentals, directly in the browser.
Go Docs
Effective Go Official guide to idiomatic Go programming — the canonical style reference.
GitHub
Awesome Go Curated list of Go frameworks, libraries, and tools.

Day 3 Checkpoint

Before moving on, make sure you can answer these without looking:

Continue To Day 4
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