Creating a Full Stack Web Application with Go and Vue.js

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Prerequisites
  3. Setup
  4. Building the Backend Server
  5. Building the Frontend Client
  6. Connecting the Backend and Frontend
  7. Conclusion

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a full stack web application using Go (also known as Golang) for the backend server and Vue.js for the frontend client. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to build a complete web application with a backend API and a frontend user interface.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, you should have the following knowledge and software installed:

  • Basic understanding of Go programming language
  • Basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • Go programming language installed on your machine
  • Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your machine

Setup

To get started, let’s set up the project structure and install the necessary dependencies.

  1. Create a new directory for your project:

    ```bash
mkdir full-stack-web-app
cd full-stack-web-app
```

  2. Initialize a new Go module:

    ```bash
go mod init github.com/your-username/full-stack-web-app
```

  3. Create the main.go file and open it in your favorite text editor:

    ```bash
touch main.go
code main.go
```

  4. Initialize a new Vue.js project inside the frontend directory:

    ```bash
cd frontend
vue create .
```

Make sure to select the default preset and wait for the dependencies to be installed.

  5. Start the development server for the frontend:

    ```bash
npm run serve
```

Open your browser and navigate to `http://localhost:8080` to see the Vue.js welcome page.

    We are now ready to start building our full stack web application.

Building the Backend Server

In this section, we will create the backend server using Go and set up a simple API.

  1. Open the main.go file in your text editor and import the necessary packages:

    ```go
package main
   
import (
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "net/http"
)
```

  2. Define a handler function for the API endpoint:

    ```go
func helloHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    fmt.Fprint(w, "Hello, world!")
}
```

  3. Set up the API endpoint and start the server:

    ```go
func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/api/hello", helloHandler)
    log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":8081", nil))
}
```

  4. Save the file and start the backend server:

    ```bash
go run main.go
```

Open your browser and navigate to `http://localhost:8081/api/hello` to see the "Hello, world!" message.

    Congratulations! You have successfully created the backend server using Go. Now let’s move on to building the frontend client.

Building the Frontend Client

In this section, we will create the frontend client using Vue.js and set up a basic user interface.

  1. Open the frontend/src/App.vue file in your text editor and update the template to display a welcome message:

    ```html
<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Welcome to my Full Stack Web App!</h1>
    <p>{{ message }}</p>
  </div>
</template>
```

  2. Update the script section to add a data property:

    ```html
<script>
  export default {
    data() {
      return {
        message: "Hello, world!"
      };
    }
  };
</script>
```

  3. Save the file and refresh your browser to see the updated message.

    Congratulations! You have successfully created the frontend client using Vue.js. Now let’s connect the backend and frontend together.

Connecting the Backend and Frontend

In this section, we will connect the backend server with the frontend client to create a full stack web application.

  1. Open the frontend/src/App.vue file in your text editor and update the script section to make an API request:

    ```html
<script>
  export default {
    data() {
      return {
        message: ""
      };
    },
    mounted() {
      fetch("/api/hello")
        .then((response) => response.text())
        .then((data) => (this.message = data))
        .catch((error) => console.error(error));
    }
  };
</script>
```

  2. Save the file and refresh your browser to see the message fetched from the backend server.

    Congratulations! You have successfully created a full stack web application using Go and Vue.js. You can now further enhance and expand your application based on your requirements.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to create a full stack web application using Go for the backend server and Vue.js for the frontend client. We started by setting up the project structure and dependencies, then built the backend server with a simple API. After that, we created the frontend client with a basic user interface and connected it with the backend server to create a full stack application.

By following this tutorial, you should now have a good understanding of how to create a full stack web application using Go and Vue.js. Feel free to explore and experiment with different features and functionalities to further enhance your web application.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know.

Happy coding!

Published:

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