Does Go Allow Explicit Dependency Fetching for Optimized Builds?

Does Go Support Explicit Dependency Fetching in Modules?

In Go module support, dependencies are managed and installed automatically during the build or install processes. This aligns with the goal of simplifying dependency management.

However, some developers prefer the flexibility of managing dependencies explicitly. In other ecosystems, it is common to copy over dependency manifests (e.g., package.json) and install dependencies separately. This approach leverages Docker's layer caching to optimize rebuild performance.

The Solution

To cater to this need, Go introduced a solution fixed in issue #26610. Developers can now use the go mod download command to fetch dependencies manually. This command requires only the go.mod and go.sum files.

An example of how to use this command in a Docker build is shown below:

FROM golang:1.17-alpine as builder
...
# Fetch dependencies
COPY go.mod go.sum ./
RUN go mod download

# Build
...

Additionally, refer to the article "Containerize Your Go Developer Environment – Part 2" for further optimization techniques using the Go compiler cache.

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