How to Use Heroku to Deploy Golang Application?

Table of Contents

Introduction to Heroku Cloud

Heroku is a popular platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that allows developers to deploy and run applications on the cloud. It supports multiple programming languages, including Go, making it easy for developers to build and deploy their Go applications. In this article, we will discuss how to use Heroku to deploy Golang application.

Step-by-step Guide to Use Heroku to Deploy Golang Application

To deploy Golang app on Heroku cloud platform, follow the steps mentioned below. Before you begin, here are the pre-requirements that you must consider.

Prerequisites before using Heroku to deploy Golang application

• Basic knowledge of Golang and Git.
• Install git in your system if not already installed because Heroku will depend on it for deployment.
• If your project is unavailable in Git, then commit your application changes in git.

Step 1: Set Up a Go Development Environment

To get started, you need to have a Go development environment set up on your local machine. You can download and install Go from the official website.

Step 2: Initialize a Go Module

Go Modules is a package management system for Go that provides versioning and dependency management. By using Go Modules, developers can easily manage their dependencies and ensure that their applications run smoothly on different systems, without the need to set up a GOPATH environment variable.

To create a Go application with Go Modules, you need to initialize a new Go Modules project. You can do this by running the following command in the terminal:

go mod init <module-name>

Step 3: Create a Basic Golang Application

Next, you can create a simple Go application, such as a basic Hello World program. The code for this program is as follows:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
)

func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprintln(w, "Hello World!")
    })
    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

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Step 4: Create a Heroku Account

To deploy your application on Heroku, you need to create a Heroku account. Sign-up for a free account on the official website.

Step 5: Verify Heroku Account

To verify your Heroku account, you can follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Heroku account.
2. Go to the “Account Settings” page.
3. Click on the “Verify Account” button.
4. Follow the steps to provide and verify your personal information, including your full name, address, and phone number.
5. Provide payment information to verify your account, which can be a credit card or PayPal account.

Step 6: Install the Heroku CLI

The Heroku CLI (Command Line Interface) allows you to manage and deploy your applications from the terminal. To install the Heroku CLI, follow the instructions below
1. Go to the Heroku CLI download page: Heroku CLI.
2. Select your operating system (Windows, MacOS, or Linux) and follow the instructions to download and install the Heroku CLI.
3. Open a terminal or command prompt window & type the command:

heroku login

4. Enter your Heroku credentials to log in.

Step 7: Create a New Heroku Application

To create a new Heroku application, run the following command in the terminal:

heroku create

Step 8: Deploy Golang App on Heroku

To use Heroku to deploy Golang application, you need to create a Procfile file that specifies the command to run the application. The contents of the Procfile file should be as follows:

web: go run main.go

Next, add the files in your Go application to a Git repository and push the repository to Heroku using the following commands:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push heroku master

Step 9: Launch the Application

After the application is successfully deployed, you can launch it by running the following command:

heroku open

The Go application was deployed to Heroku and opened using the heroku open command. The application’s output, “Hello, World!” is displayed in a web browser. The URL of the application on Heroku is also shown in the web browser’s address bar.

You are successful with Heroku Golang now. Your Go application is now running on Heroku. You can access it through the URL in the terminal as an output of the above heroku open command.

Conclusion