Open URL on open port - go

Question

I'm assuming I can run a service on port 3000 like many other code samples I've seen on Github.
Now I am trying to improve my code so that it looks for an open port in case 3000 is in use:
for port := 3000; port <= 3005; port++ {
fmt.Println(port)
err := http.ListenAndServe(":"+strconv.Itoa(port), nil)
if err == nil {
fmt.Println("lk is serving", dirPath, "from http://0.0.0.0:", string(port))
open.Start("http://0.0.0.0:" + string(port))
}
}
However it blocks on the http.ListenAndServe line and doesn't open.Start my browser. I'm told I should use goroutines but I am still a bit bewildered how to use them in this context.
This is a "client" Web app so I do need it to invoke my browser.

Answer 1

Instead of calling ListenAndServe, create the Listener in the application and then call Serve. When creating the listener, request a free port by specifying the listener address as ":0":
ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", ":0")
if err != nil {
// handle error
}
Once the listener is open, you can start the browser:
open.Start("http://" + ln.Addr().String())
and then start the server:
if err := http.Serve(ln, nil); err != nil {
// handle error
}
There's no need to use a goroutine.
The code above uses addr.String() to format the listener's address. If you do need to get the port number for some reason, use a type assertion:
if a, ok := ln.Addr().(*net.TCPAddr); ok {
fmt.Println("port", a.Port)
}