Let's Go Further: Advanced Development Techniques in Go

Introduction

The book "Let's Go Further" (2022) by Alex Edwards is a logical continuation of his bestseller "Let's Go," which covers the fundamentals of web development in the Go language. While the first book laid the foundation (routing, templates, middleware, working with databases), "Let's Go Further" raises the bar: here you will learn how to create a production-ready REST API, manage complex PostgreSQL queries, implement authentication based on JWT and tokens, write integration tests, and deploy an application on a server. The book was published in 2022, has 590 pages, and is aimed at developers already familiar with the basics of Go.

What the book is about

"Let's Go Further" is a practical guide to building a full-fledged web service in Go. The author consistently guides the reader from architecture design to deployment. Main topics:

• Designing a RESTful API from scratch (routes, handlers, JSON responses);
• Working with PostgreSQL: migrations, complex queries, transactions, pagination;
• Authentication and authorization: JWT, bcrypt, refresh tokens, middleware;
• Error handling and data validation (custom error types, structured responses);
• Testing: unit tests, integration tests with a test database, mock objects;
• Deployment: building a Docker image, setting up CI/CD, working with environment variables;
• Performance: connection pools, caching, profiling.

Each chapter contains ready-to-use code that can be immediately applied in a real project.

Who this book is for

The book is intended for Go developers who have already mastered basic syntax, know how to work with goroutines and channels, but want to delve deeper into creating production services. It will be useful for:

• Backend developers transitioning to Go from other languages;
• Developers who want to learn best practices for building REST APIs;
• Those who want to learn how to write tests and set up CI/CD for Go projects;
• Students and course graduates looking to gain practical experience.

If you are just starting to learn Go, it's better to first read "Let's Go" by the same author — this book assumes a confident grasp of the basics.

What the reader will learn

After reading "Let's Go Further," you will be able to:

• Design and implement a RESTful API with support for CORS, pagination, and filtering;
• Work with PostgreSQL via database/sql and pgx (pools, transactions, migrations);
• Implement authentication using JWT and refresh tokens;
• Write integration tests that run in an isolated database;
• Set up a Docker container for the application and database;
• Optimize performance: profile, cache, manage connections;
• Structure code so that it is easy to maintain and extend.

Strengths

The main advantage of the book is its practical focus. Every concept is accompanied by working code that can be downloaded from GitHub. The author doesn't just explain theory but shows how to make decisions in real development: why a particular pattern was chosen, how to avoid common mistakes. The book is written in a lively, understandable language, without excessive academicism. The chapters on testing and deployment are especially valuable — these topics are rarely covered in such detail in other guides. Another plus is its relevance: the book was published in 2022 and uses modern versions of Go and libraries.

Who it is recommended for

I strongly recommend "Let's Go Further" to everyone who wants to move from writing educational projects to creating commercial services in Go. The book is ideal for self-study: you can read it sequentially or use it as a reference for specific topics. If you already work with Go but feel gaps in architecture, testing, or deployment — this book will fill them. For teams transitioning to Go, it can become an internal standard.