Chi vs Gorilla Mux A Comparison

Gorilla Mux and Chi are two of the most popular routing packages for Go. Both are highly performant and feature-rich, but there are some key differences between them.

Chi is a newer router that is designed to be more lightweight and composable than Gorilla Mux. It is also more flexible, allowing you to define routes in various ways. Chi is a good choice for projects that need to be scalable and maintainable.

Gorilla Mux is a more mature router that has been around for longer. It is more feature-rich than Chi, with support for custom routing rules, host-based routing, and route reversing. Gorilla Mux is a good choice for projects that need to be highly customizable.

Which one should you use?

The best router for you will depend on your specific needs. Chi is a good choice if you need a lightweight and composable router that is easy to use. If you need a router with more features and customization options, then Gorilla Mux is a good choice.

Here is a more detailed comparison of the two routers:

Chi

• Pros:
  • Lightweight and composable
  • Flexible
  • Easy to use
  • Good documentation
  • Active community
• Cons:
  • Fewer features than Gorilla Mux
  • Does not support host-based routing or route reversing

Gorilla Mux

• Pros:
  • Feature-rich
  • Supports custom routing rules, host-based routing, and route reversing
  • Easy to use
  • Good documentation
  • Active community
• Cons:
  • Not as lightweight as Chi
  • Less flexible

Ultimately, the best way to decide which router is right for you is to try both of them and see which one you prefer.

Chi

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"

    "github.com/pressly/chi"
)

func main() {
    router := chi.NewRouter()

    router.Get("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprintf(w, "Hello, world!")
    })

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

Gorilla Mux

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"

    "github.com/gorilla/mux"
)

func main() {
    router := mux.NewRouter()

    router.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprintf(w, "Hello, world!")
    })

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

As you can see, the code for both routers is very similar. The main difference is that the Chi router uses the chi.NewRouter() function to create a new router, while the Gorilla Mux router uses the mux.NewRouter() function.

Another difference is that the Chi router uses the router.Get() method to define a GET route, while the Gorilla Mux router uses the router.HandleFunc() method.

Finally, the Chi router uses the http.ListenAndServe() function to listen for and serve HTTP requests, while the Gorilla Mux router uses the same function.

Chi Middleware vs Mux Middleware

Both Chi and Gorilla Mux similarly handle middleware. They both allow you to attach middleware to a router object. Middleware is a function that is executed before the handler function for a route is called.

Middleware can be used to perform tasks such as:

• Authentication
• Authorization
• Logging
• Rate limiting

The main difference between Chi and Gorilla Mux is how they attach middleware to a router object. Chi uses the router.Use() method, while Gorilla Mux uses the router.HandleFunc() method.

Here is an example of how to attach middleware to a router object in Chi:

router := chi.NewRouter()

router.Use(middleware.LoggerMiddleware)
router.Use(middleware.AuthMiddleware)

router.Get("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    // Handle the request
})

Here is an example of how to attach middleware to a router object in Gorilla Mux:

router := mux.NewRouter()

router.HandleFunc("/", middleware.LoggerMiddleware(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    // Handle the request
}))

The router.Use() a method in Chi is more concise and readable. However, the router.HandleFunc() the technique in Gorilla Mux is more flexible

What are the pros and cons of Chi?

The pros of Chi are that it is lightweight, composable, and easy to use. The cons of Chi are that it has fewer features than Gorilla Mux and does not support host-based routing or route reversing.

Conclusion

Chi and Gorilla Mux are both excellent routers for Go. They are both highly performant and feature-rich, with their own strengths and weaknesses. The best router for you will depend on your specific needs.