Building a REST API in Go: A Task Management CRUD Application

Building a REST API in Go: A Task Management CRUD Application

Introduction

Building a REST API is a classic rite of passage for any backend developer. In this post, we will build a simple Task Management API that supports Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations using Go’s built-in net/http package and standard library.

The Data Model

First, let’s define our Task struct.

type Task struct {
    ID    string `json:"id"`
    Title string `json:"title"`
    Done  bool   `json:"done"`
}

var tasks = []Task{
    {ID: "1", Title: "Learn Go", Done: false},
    {ID: "2", Title: "Build an API", Done: false},
}

The Implementation

We will create handlers for each HTTP verb: GET (read), POST (create), PUT (update), and DELETE.

package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "net/http"
)

// Simplified handler for reading tasks
func getTasks(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(tasks)
}

func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/tasks", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        switch r.Method {
        case http.MethodGet:
            getTasks(w, r)
        // Add cases for POST, PUT, DELETE here
        default:
            http.Error(w, "Method not allowed", http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
        }
    })

    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

Why This Matters

By using standard library tools, you gain a deep understanding of how HTTP requests are handled in Go without the overhead of heavy frameworks. This is a foundational step toward building robust, scalable backend services.

Suggested Reading

• Go Documentation: net/http
• Go Documentation: encoding/json