Martini — Classy Composable Web Framework for Go

Introduction

Martini is a Go web framework that provides an expressive, Sinatra-like API for handling HTTP requests. It relies on reflection-based dependency injection to wire services into handlers automatically, letting developers write concise route handlers without manual plumbing.

What Martini Does

• Maps HTTP routes to handler functions with automatic parameter injection
• Provides a composable middleware stack for request processing pipelines
• Includes a Classic() preset with logging, recovery, and static file serving
• Supports route groups for organizing related endpoints under shared prefixes
• Injects services into handlers automatically via a reflection-based injector

Architecture Overview

Martini's core is an injector that resolves function parameters at runtime using Go's reflect package. When a request arrives, the router matches it to a handler, the middleware stack runs in sequence, and the injector supplies dependencies (request, response writer, custom services) to each handler. This design keeps handlers short but incurs a small reflection overhead per request.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Requires Go 1.18 or later
• Install with go get github.com/go-martini/martini
• martini.Classic() bundles Logger, Recovery, and Static middleware
• Bind custom services with m.Map() or m.MapTo() for interface injection
• Set the MARTINI_ENV environment variable to production to disable debug output

Key Features

• Sinatra-inspired routing with clean, expressive handler signatures
• Dependency injection removes boilerplate wiring of services
• Middleware is composable — add, remove, or reorder with a single call
• Route groups share middleware and path prefixes
• Minimal core with optional add-on packages for sessions, rendering, and auth

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Gin — uses httprouter for speed and avoids reflection; Martini trades performance for expressiveness
• Echo — similar middleware model but without reflection-based DI
• Negroni — middleware-only library by the same author; Martini adds routing and DI on top
• Revel — full MVC framework; Martini is a lighter, library-style approach
• Fiber — fasthttp-based for throughput; Martini targets developer ergonomics

FAQ

Q: Is Martini still maintained? A: The repository is not archived but receives infrequent updates. It remains usable and stable for existing projects.

Q: Does reflection hurt performance? A: There is a measurable overhead per request compared to non-reflective routers like httprouter, but for most workloads it is not the bottleneck.

Q: Can I use Martini with Go modules? A: Yes. The github.com/go-martini/martini import path works with Go modules.

Q: What is the relationship between Martini and Negroni? A: Both were created by the same developer. Negroni focuses solely on middleware composition, while Martini adds routing and dependency injection.

Sources

• https://github.com/go-martini/martini
• https://github.com/go-martini/martini#readme