I have a go server which I normally run like this:
go build . && ./main
But online I see many examples using go run . which is better to use and what is the difference?
From official documentation (go1.11):
go run - compiles and runs the named main Go package.
go build - compiles the packages named by the import paths, along with their dependencies, but it does not install the results.
go install - compiles and installs the packages named by the import paths.
It means:
Usually for LOCAL environment it's ok to use go run,
but for PROD environment it's better to build your app with go build and run ./main,
but in case you need Go toolchain you must use go install because it installs packages and dependencies and run ./bin/main (it may make sense in dev/stage environment).