How to Use Docker Compose with a Go Application

Use Docker Compose to define your Go application and its dependencies in a docker-compose.yml file, then run docker-compose up --build to compile and start the services.

version: '3.8'
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - GOOS=linux
      - GOARCH=amd64

1. Create a Dockerfile in your project root with FROM golang:1.21-alpine, WORKDIR /app, COPY . ., RUN go build -o main ., and CMD ["./main"].
2. Add the docker-compose.yml file shown above to define the service.
3. Run docker-compose up --build to build the image and start the container.

Docker Compose lets you define your Go app and its environment in a single file so you can run everything with one command. It acts like a recipe book that tells Docker exactly how to build your code and start it up without you needing to type complex commands manually. Think of it as setting up a pre-configured workspace that works the same way on any computer.