Golang code organization for multi-platform multi-language project

Question

I am looking for a good project organization for a multi-platform project with multiple components written in Go. I am aware of the recommended layout from http://golang.org/doc/code.html, but the layout suggested there does not seem to fit my requirements.

Project components are:

• server (written in Go)
• client, cross-platform (Go)
• library, shared between server and client (Go)
• some more clients (iOS, Android)

My requirements are:

• All components in a single git repository
• Keep components separate (e.g. one directory per component)
• Go components can be structured into multiple sub-packages

My current approach:

project/ (this is the repository root)
  server/
    server.go (package main)
    src/          
      server/
        package1/
          package1.go
        ...
  client/
    client.go (package main)
    src/
      client/
        package2/
          package2.go
        ...
  lib/
    src/
      lib/
         lib.go
         ...
  client-ios/
    ...
  client-android/
    ...

To build, I use a Makefile which

1. Copies lib/ into both server/ and client/
2. Builds server/ and client/ separately, setting GOPATH every time to the respective directory.

It works, but feels really klunky and is quite different to the recommended code layout.

Here is the alternative I am considering:

project/ (this is the repository root)
  gospace/
    src/
      server/...
      client/...
      lib/...
  client-ios/
    ...
  client-android/
    ...

With this layout I have a single GOPATH (gospace/) and don't need the klunky Makefile. However, the components are not separated as neatly as in the first alternative (i.e. via a top level directory).

My question: Which project layout would be best suited for both my requirements and Go conventions and tooling support? Are there better options which I did not see yet?

Answer 1

This is how I organized a similar project :

$GOPATH/src/project-root/
    lib.go
    lib_test.go

    server/
        server.go
        server_test.go

        main/
            server.go // package main; import "project-root/server"

    client/
        client.go
        client_test.go

        main/
            client.go //package main; import "project-root/client"

    client-ios/
        ....

    client-android/
        ....

While mostly having server/server.go and client/client.go as package main should work, it's better to separate it so you could embed the client/server in other projects.