gin README

The project's README from github.com/gin-gonic/gin. As one markdown file: README.md.

Gin Web Framework

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📰 Gin 1.12.0 is now available!

We're excited to announce the release of Gin 1.12.0! This release brings new features, performance improvements, and important bug fixes. Check out the release announcement on our official blog for the full details.

Gin is a high-performance HTTP web framework written in Go. It provides a Martini-like API but with significantly better performance—up to 40 times faster—thanks to httprouter. Gin is designed for building REST APIs, web applications, and microservices where speed and developer productivity are essential.

Why choose Gin?

Gin combines the simplicity of Express.js-style routing with Go's performance characteristics, making it ideal for:

Gin's key features:

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Installation

With Go's module support, simply import Gin in your code and Go will automatically fetch it during build:

import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"

Your First Gin Application

Here's a complete example that demonstrates Gin's simplicity:

package main

import (
  "log"
  "net/http"

  "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
)

func main() {
  // Create a Gin router with default middleware (logger and recovery)
  r := gin.Default()

  // Define a simple GET endpoint
  r.GET("/ping", func(c *gin.Context) {
    // Return JSON response
    c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{
      "message": "pong",
    })
  })

  // Start server on port 8080 (default)
  // Server will listen on 0.0.0.0:8080 (localhost:8080 on Windows)
  if err := r.Run(); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("failed to run server: %v", err)
  }
}

Running the application:

  1. Save the code above as main.go

  2. Run the application:

    go run main.go

  3. Open your browser and visit http://localhost:8080/ping

  4. You should see: {"message":"pong"}

What this example demonstrates:

Next Steps

After running your first Gin application, explore these resources to learn more:

📚 Learning Resources

📖 Documentation

API Reference

User Guides

The comprehensive documentation is available on gin-gonic.com in multiple languages:

Official Tutorials

⚡ Performance Benchmarks

Gin demonstrates exceptional performance compared to other Go web frameworks. It uses a custom version of HttpRouter for maximum efficiency. View detailed benchmarks →

Gin vs. Other Go Frameworks (GitHub API routing benchmark):

Benchmark name (1) (2) (3) (4)
BenchmarkGin_GithubAll 43550 27364 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkAce_GithubAll 40543 29670 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkAero_GithubAll 57632 20648 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkBear_GithubAll 9234 216179 ns/op 86448 B/op 943 allocs/op
BenchmarkBeego_GithubAll 7407 243496 ns/op 71456 B/op 609 allocs/op
BenchmarkBone_GithubAll 420 2922835 ns/op 720160 B/op 8620 allocs/op
BenchmarkChi_GithubAll 7620 238331 ns/op 87696 B/op 609 allocs/op
BenchmarkDenco_GithubAll 18355 64494 ns/op 20224 B/op 167 allocs/op
BenchmarkEcho_GithubAll 31251 38479 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkGocraftWeb_GithubAll 4117 300062 ns/op 131656 B/op 1686 allocs/op
BenchmarkGoji_GithubAll 3274 416158 ns/op 56112 B/op 334 allocs/op
BenchmarkGojiv2_GithubAll 1402 870518 ns/op 352720 B/op 4321 allocs/op
BenchmarkGoJsonRest_GithubAll 2976 401507 ns/op 134371 B/op 2737 allocs/op
BenchmarkGoRestful_GithubAll 410 2913158 ns/op 910144 B/op 2938 allocs/op
BenchmarkGorillaMux_GithubAll 346 3384987 ns/op 251650 B/op 1994 allocs/op
BenchmarkGowwwRouter_GithubAll 10000 143025 ns/op 72144 B/op 501 allocs/op
BenchmarkHttpRouter_GithubAll 55938 21360 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkHttpTreeMux_GithubAll 10000 153944 ns/op 65856 B/op 671 allocs/op
BenchmarkKocha_GithubAll 10000 106315 ns/op 23304 B/op 843 allocs/op
BenchmarkLARS_GithubAll 47779 25084 ns/op 0 B/op 0 allocs/op
BenchmarkMacaron_GithubAll 3266 371907 ns/op 149409 B/op 1624 allocs/op
BenchmarkMartini_GithubAll 331 3444706 ns/op 226551 B/op 2325 allocs/op
BenchmarkPat_GithubAll 273 4381818 ns/op 1483152 B/op 26963 allocs/op
BenchmarkPossum_GithubAll 10000 164367 ns/op 84448 B/op 609 allocs/op
BenchmarkR2router_GithubAll 10000 160220 ns/op 77328 B/op 979 allocs/op
BenchmarkRivet_GithubAll 14625 82453 ns/op 16272 B/op 167 allocs/op
BenchmarkTango_GithubAll 6255 279611 ns/op 63826 B/op 1618 allocs/op
BenchmarkTigerTonic_GithubAll 2008 687874 ns/op 193856 B/op 4474 allocs/op
BenchmarkTraffic_GithubAll 355 3478508 ns/op 820744 B/op 14114 allocs/op
BenchmarkVulcan_GithubAll 6885 193333 ns/op 19894 B/op 609 allocs/op

🔌 Middleware Ecosystem

Gin has a rich ecosystem of middleware for common web development needs. Explore community-contributed middleware:

🏢 Production Usage

Gin powers many high-traffic applications and services in production:

🤝 Contributing

Gin is the work of hundreds of contributors from around the world. We welcome and appreciate your contributions! See the full list of contributors.

How to Contribute

Getting Started with Contributing

  1. Check out our CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines
  2. Join our community discussions and ask questions

All contributions are valued and help make Gin better for everyone!

gin (gin-gonic/gin)

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89.4K ·GitHub
Gin
What is this?Gin is a high-performance HTTP web framework written in Go, used for building REST APIs, web applications, and microservices.
Is it a framework or just a router library?It is a full web framework with routing, middleware, JSON binding/validation, and rendering, built on a custom version of httprouter for zero-allocation routing.
How do I add Gin to a Go project?Import Gin in your code and Go's module support will fetch it automatically during build; then create a router with gin.Default() and define handlers, e.g. returning JSON from GET /ping.
Which Go version do I need?You need Go version 1.25 or above, plus basic familiarity with Go syntax and package management.
Are there any gotchas when adopting it?Not explicitly called out as a major pitfall, but you should pin to the correct Go toolchain version since Gin requires Go 1.25+, which can break older projects.
How fast is Gin compared to other Go frameworks?In the GitHub API routing benchmark, Gin processes requests in about 27364 ns/op with zero heap allocations, far outperforming frameworks like Martini (3444706 ns/op) and Gorilla Mux (3384987 ns/op).
What middleware is available out of the box?Gin ships with built-in crash recovery middleware and supports an extensible middleware system for things like authentication, logging, and CORS, with a rich ecosystem via gin-contrib and gin-gonic/contrib.
What can Gin render besides JSON?Gin has built-in rendering support for JSON, XML, HTML templates, and more, alongside automatic request/response JSON binding and validation.
Who uses Gin in production?Production users include gorush (push notifications), fnproject (serverless platform), photoprism (photo management), lura (API gateway), picfit (image processing), and dkron (job scheduling).
What are similar projects?echo, fiber, chi, hono, martini, mux, go-zero, express
Which topics is it in?gin, router, middleware, web-framework, rest-api, backend, performance, go, framework, api, server, library
Creator
gin-gonic
Size
10.4 MB
Stars
89.4K
Updated
CommitOct 10Releasev1.12.0Feb 28
Age
12y
Commits · 90 Days