Getting Started

Prerequisites

1. If you don’t setup golang development environment, please follow Install Go to install go.
2. We strongly recommend you use latest golang version. And compatibility is guaranteed within three latest minor release version (for now >= v1.16).
3. Ensure GO111MODULE is set to on.
4. Currently Windows is not particularly supported by Kitex, if your development environment is Windows, you are suggested to use WSL2.

Quick Start

This chapter gonna get you started with Kitex with a simple executable example.

Install Compiler

First of all, let’s install compilers we gonna work with.

1. Ensure GOPATH environment variable is defined properly (for example export GOPATH=~/go), then add $GOPATH/bin to PATH environment variable (for example export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$PATH). Make sure GOPATH is accessible.
2. Install kitex: go install github.com/cloudwego/kitex/tool/cmd/kitex@latest
3. Install thriftgo: go install github.com/cloudwego/thriftgo@latest

Now you can run kitex --version and thriftgo --version, and you can see some outputs just like below if you setup compilers successfully.

$ kitex --version
vx.x.x

$ thriftgo --version
thriftgo x.x.x

Tips: If you encounter any problem during installation, it’s probably you don’t setup golang develop environment properly. In most cases you can search error message to find solution.

Get the example

1. You can just click HERE to download the example
2. Or you can clone the example repository git clone https://github.com/cloudwego/kitex-examples.git

Run the example

Run by go

1. enter hello directory

   cd kitex-examples/hello

2. run server

   go run .

3. run client

   open a another terminal, and go run ./client

Run by docker

1. enter the example directory

   cd kitex-examples

2. build the example project

   docker build -t kitex-examples .

3. run server

   docker run --network host kitex-examples ./hello-server

4. run client

   open another terminal, and docker run --network host kitex-examples ./hello-client

congratulation! You successfully use Kitex to complete a RPC.

Add a new method

open hello.thrift, you will see code below:

namespace go api

struct Request {
        1: string message
}

struct Response {
        1: string message
}

service Hello {
    Response echo(1: Request req)
}

Now let’s define a new request and responseAddRequest 和 AddResponse, after that add add method to service Hello:

namespace go api

struct Request {
        1: string message
}

struct Response {
        1: string message
}

struct AddRequest {
	1: i64 first
	2: i64 second
}

struct AddResponse {
	1: i64 sum
}

service Hello {
    Response echo(1: Request req)
    AddResponse add(1: AddRequest req)
}

When you complete it, hello.thrift should be just like above.

Regenerate code

Run below command, then kitex compiler will recompile hello.thrift and update generated code.

kitex -service a.b.c hello.thrift

# If the current directory is not under $GOPATH/src, you need to add the -module parameter which usually is same as the module name in go.mod
kitex -module "your_module_name" -service a.b.c hello.thrift

After you run the above command, kitex compiler will update these files:

1. update `./handler.go`, add a basic implementation of `add` method.
2. update `./kitex_gen`, updates client and server implementation.

Update handler

When you complete Regenerate Code chapter, kitex will add a basic implementation of Add to ./handler.go, just like:

// Add implements the HelloImpl interface.
func (s *HelloImpl) Add(ctx context.Context, req *api.AddRequest) (resp *api.AddResponse, err error) {
        // TODO: Your code here...
        return
}

Let’s complete process logic, like:

// Add implements the HelloImpl interface.
func (s *HelloImpl) Add(ctx context.Context, req *api.AddRequest) (resp *api.AddResponse, err error) {
        // TODO: Your code here...
        resp = &api.AddResponse{Sum: req.First + req.Second}
        return
}

Call “add” method

Let’s add add RPC to client example.

You can see something like below in ./client/main.go:

for {
        req := &api.Request{Message: "my request"}
        resp, err := client.Echo(context.Background(), req)
        if err != nil {
                log.Fatal(err)
        }
        log.Println(resp)
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
}

Let’s add add RPC:

for {
        req := &api.Request{Message: "my request"}
        resp, err := client.Echo(context.Background(), req)
        if err != nil {
                log.Fatal(err)
        }
        log.Println(resp)
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
        addReq := &api.AddRequest{First: 512, Second: 512}
        addResp, err := client.Add(context.Background(), addReq)
        if err != nil {
                log.Fatal(err)
        }
        log.Println(addResp)
        time.Sleep(time.Second)
}

Run application again

Shutdown server and client we have run, then:

1. run server

    `go run .`
   

2. run client

    open another terminal, and `go run ./client`
   
    Now, you can see outputs of `add` RPC.
   

Tutorial

About Kitex

Kitex is a RPC framework which supports multiple serialization protocols and transport protocols.

Kitex compiler supports both thrift and proto3 IDL, and fairly Kitex supports thrift and protobuf serialization protocol. Kitex extends thrift as transport protocol, and also supports gRPC protocol.

WHY IDL

We use IDL to define interface.

Thrift IDL grammar: Thrift interface description language.

proto3 grammar: Language Guide(proto3).

Create project directory

Let’s create a directory to setup project.

$ mkdir example

enter directory

$ cd example

Kitex compiler

kitex is a compiler which has the same name as Kitex framework, it can generate a project including client and server conveniently.

Install

You can use following command to install and upgrade kitex:

$ go install github.com/cloudwego/kitex/tool/cmd/kitex

After that, you can just run it to check whether it’s installed successfully.

$ kitex

If you see some outputs like below, congratulation!

$ kitex

No IDL file found.

If you see something like command not found, you should add $GOPATH/bin to $PATH. For detail, see chapter Prerequisites .

Usage

You can visit Compiler for detailed usage.

Write IDL

For example, a thrift IDL.

create a echo.thrift file, and define a service like below:

namespace go api

struct Request {
	1: string message
}

struct Response {
	1: string message
}

service Echo {
    Response echo(1: Request req)
}

Generate echo service code

We can use kitex compiler to compile the IDL file to generate whole project.

$ kitex -module example -service example echo.thrift

-module indicates go module name of project，-service indicates expected to generate a executable service named example, the last parameter is path to IDL file.

Generated project layout:

.
|-- build.sh
|-- echo.thrift
|-- handler.go
|-- kitex_gen
|   `-- api
|       |-- echo
|       |   |-- client.go
|       |   |-- echo.go
|       |   |-- invoker.go
|       |   `-- server.go
|       |-- echo.go
|       `-- k-echo.go
|-- main.go
`-- script
    |-- bootstrap.sh
    `-- settings.py

Get latest Kitex

Kitex expect project to use go module as dependency manager. It cloud be easy to upgrade Kitex:

$ go get github.com/cloudwego/kitex@latest
$ go mod tidy

If you encounter something like below :

github.com/apache/thrift/lib/go/thrift: ambiguous import: found package github.com/apache/thrift/lib/go/thrift in multiple modules

Run following command, and try again:

go mod edit -droprequire=github.com/apache/thrift/lib/go/thrift
go mod edit -replace=github.com/apache/thrift=github.com/apache/thrift@v0.13.0

Write echo service process

All method process entry should be in handler.go, you should see something like below in this file:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"example/kitex_gen/api"
)

// EchoImpl implements the last service interface defined in the IDL.
type EchoImpl struct{}

// Echo implements the EchoImpl interface.
func (s *EchoImpl) Echo(ctx context.Context, req *api.Request) (resp *api.Response, err error) {
	// TODO: Your code here...
	return
}

Echo method represents the echo we defined in thrift IDL.

Now let’s make Echo a real echo.

modify Echo method:

func (s *EchoImpl) Echo(ctx context.Context, req *api.Request) (resp *api.Response, err error) {
	return &api.Response{Message: req.Message}, nil
}

Compile and Run

kitex compiler has generated scripts to compile and run the project:

Compile:

$ sh build.sh

There should be a output directory After you execute above command, which includes compilation productions .

Run:

$ sh output/bootstrap.sh

Now, Echo service is running!

Write Client

Let’s write a client to call Echo server.

create a directory as client package:

$ mkdir client

enter directory:

$ cd client

create a main.go file.

Create Client

Let’s new a client to do RPC：

import "example/kitex_gen/api/echo"
import "github.com/cloudwego/kitex/client"
...
c, err := echo.NewClient("example", client.WithHostPorts("0.0.0.0:8888"))
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

echo.NewClient is used to new a client, the first parameter is service name, the second parameter is options which is used to pass options. client.WithHostPorts is used to specify server address, see chapter Basic Feature for details.

Do RPC

Let’s write call code:

import "example/kitex_gen/api"
...
req := &api.Request{Message: "my request"}
resp, err := c.Echo(context.Background(), req, callopt.WithRPCTimeout(3*time.Second))
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}
log.Println(resp)

We new a request req, then we use c.Echo to do a RPC call.

The first parameter context.Context, is used to transfer information or to control some call behaviors. You will see detailed usage in behind chapters.\

The seconde parameter is request.

The third parameter is call options, which is called callopt, these options only works for this RPC call. callopt.WithRPCTimeout is used to specify timeout for this RPC call. See chapter Basic Feature for detail.

Run Client

You can run following command to run a client:

$ go run main.go

You should see some outputs like below:

2021/05/20 16:51:35 Response({Message:my request})

Congratulation! You have written a Kitex server and client, and have done a RPC call.