refactored Engine.handleHTTPRequest so that two passes are made if the request is HEAD and there isn't a matching HEAD handler

added more documentation

re-ordered GET and HEAD methods to be adjacent

rendering is now suppressed for HEAD request, which means that wasteful processing is avoided

README.md

@@ -196,6 +196,8 @@ You can find a number of ready-to-run examples at [Gin examples repository](http
 
 ### Using GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE and OPTIONS
 
+For each HTTP method, there is a router method to set up handlers on specific paths.
+  
 ```go
 func main() {
 	// Creates a gin router with default middleware:
@@ -217,8 +219,13 @@ func main() {
 }
 ```
 
+Note that every GET handler will also receive its equivalent HEAD requests automatically, so
+although you can define HEAD handlers explicitly, you don't really need to.
+
 ### Parameters in path
 
+Path parameters take the form `:param` and accept any string separated the adjacent slash(es).
+
 ```go
 func main() {
 	router := gin.Default()
@@ -247,7 +254,10 @@ func main() {
 }
 ```
 
-### Querystring parameters
+### Query string parameters
+
+The query string follows the `?` in the URL. The parameters are accessed using Gin `Context` methods
+`Query` and `DefaultQuery`.
 
 ```go
 func main() {
@@ -315,7 +325,7 @@ func main() {
 id: 1234; page: 1; name: manu; message: this_is_great
 ```
 
-### Map as querystring or postform parameters
+### Map as query string or post form parameters
 
 ```
 POST /post?ids[a]=1234&ids[b]=hello HTTP/1.1
@@ -547,7 +557,7 @@ func main() {
         c.String(200, "pong")
     })
 
-    router.Run(":8080")
+    router.Run(":8080")
 }
 ```
 

context.go

@@ -856,7 +856,11 @@ func (c *Context) Cookie(name string) (string, error) {
 func (c *Context) Render(code int, r render.Render) {
 	c.Status(code)
 
-	if !bodyAllowedForStatus(code) {
+	// Rendering is suppressed for 1xx, 204 and 304 and all HEAD requests
+	// This avoids wasteful response processing, even though the standard
+	// net/http response processing would discard the response entity in
+	// (some of) these cases.
+	if !bodyAllowedForStatus(code) || c.Request.Method == http.MethodHead {
 		r.WriteContentType(c.Writer)
 		c.Writer.WriteHeaderNow()
 		return

context_test.go

@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ func TestContextHandler(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestContextQuery(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(httptest.NewRecorder())
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com/?foo=bar&page=10&id=", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/?foo=bar&page=10&id=", nil)
 
 	value, ok := c.GetQuery("foo")
 	assert.True(t, ok)
@@ -675,6 +675,7 @@ func TestContextRenderPanicIfErr(t *testing.T) {
 	}()
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Render(http.StatusOK, &TestPanicRender{})
 
@@ -687,6 +688,7 @@ func TestContextRenderPanicIfErr(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com/", nil)
 
 	c.JSON(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar", "html": "<b>"})
 
@@ -740,6 +742,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderAPIJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com/", nil)
 
 	c.Header("Content-Type", "application/vnd.api+json")
 	c.JSON(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar"})
@@ -767,6 +770,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentAPIJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderIndentedJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.IndentedJSON(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "nested": H{"foo": "bar"}})
 
@@ -779,6 +783,7 @@ func TestContextRenderIndentedJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentIndentedJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.IndentedJSON(http.StatusNoContent, H{"foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "nested": H{"foo": "bar"}})
 
@@ -792,6 +797,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentIndentedJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderSecureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, router := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	router.SecureJsonPrefix("&&&START&&&")
 	c.SecureJSON(http.StatusCreated, []string{"foo", "bar"})
@@ -805,6 +811,7 @@ func TestContextRenderSecureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentSecureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.SecureJSON(http.StatusNoContent, []string{"foo", "bar"})
 
@@ -816,6 +823,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentSecureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentAsciiJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.AsciiJSON(http.StatusNoContent, []string{"lang", "Go语言"})
 
@@ -830,6 +838,8 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentAsciiJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderPureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
+
 	c.PureJSON(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar", "html": "<b>"})
 	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusCreated, w.Code)
 	assert.Equal(t, "{\"foo\":\"bar\",\"html\":\"<b>\"}\n", w.Body.String())
@@ -841,6 +851,7 @@ func TestContextRenderPureJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderHTML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, router := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	templ := template.Must(template.New("t").Parse(`Hello {{.name}}`))
 	router.SetHTMLTemplate(templ)
@@ -855,6 +866,7 @@ func TestContextRenderHTML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderHTML2(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, router := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	// print debug warning log when Engine.trees > 0
 	router.addRoute("GET", "/", HandlersChain{func(_ *Context) {}})
@@ -880,6 +892,7 @@ func TestContextRenderHTML2(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentHTML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, router := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	templ := template.Must(template.New("t").Parse(`Hello {{.name}}`))
 	router.SetHTMLTemplate(templ)
 
@@ -895,6 +908,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentHTML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderXML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.XML(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar"})
 
@@ -907,6 +921,7 @@ func TestContextRenderXML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentXML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.XML(http.StatusNoContent, H{"foo": "bar"})
 
@@ -920,6 +935,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentXML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderString(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.String(http.StatusCreated, "test %s %d", "string", 2)
 
@@ -932,6 +948,7 @@ func TestContextRenderString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentString(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.String(http.StatusNoContent, "test %s %d", "string", 2)
 
@@ -945,6 +962,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderHTMLString(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Header("Content-Type", "text/html; charset=utf-8")
 	c.String(http.StatusCreated, "<html>%s %d</html>", "string", 3)
@@ -958,6 +976,7 @@ func TestContextRenderHTMLString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentHTMLString(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Header("Content-Type", "text/html; charset=utf-8")
 	c.String(http.StatusNoContent, "<html>%s %d</html>", "string", 3)
@@ -972,6 +991,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentHTMLString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderData(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Data(http.StatusCreated, "text/csv", []byte(`foo,bar`))
 
@@ -984,6 +1004,7 @@ func TestContextRenderData(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderNoContentData(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Data(http.StatusNoContent, "text/csv", []byte(`foo,bar`))
 
@@ -995,6 +1016,7 @@ func TestContextRenderNoContentData(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderSSE(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.SSEvent("float", 1.5)
 	c.Render(-1, sse.Event{
@@ -1012,6 +1034,7 @@ func TestContextRenderSSE(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderFile(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	c.File("./gin.go")
@@ -1024,6 +1047,7 @@ func TestContextRenderFile(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderFileFromFS(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/some/path", nil)
 	c.FileFromFS("./gin.go", Dir(".", false))
@@ -1037,6 +1061,7 @@ func TestContextRenderFileFromFS(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderAttachment(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	newFilename := "new_filename.go"
 
 	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
@@ -1052,6 +1077,7 @@ func TestContextRenderAttachment(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderYAML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.YAML(http.StatusCreated, H{"foo": "bar"})
 
@@ -1066,6 +1092,7 @@ func TestContextRenderYAML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderProtoBuf(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	reps := []int64{int64(1), int64(2)}
 	label := "test"
@@ -1086,6 +1113,7 @@ func TestContextRenderProtoBuf(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestContextHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(httptest.NewRecorder())
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	c.Header("Content-Type", "text/plain")
 	c.Header("X-Custom", "value")
 
@@ -1118,6 +1146,7 @@ func TestContextRenderRedirectWithRelativePath(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderRedirectWithAbsolutePath(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "http://example.com", nil)
 	c.Redirect(http.StatusFound, "http://google.com")
@@ -1131,7 +1160,7 @@ func TestContextRenderRedirectWith201(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
 
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "http://example.com", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 	c.Redirect(http.StatusCreated, "/resource")
 	c.Writer.WriteHeaderNow()
 
@@ -1141,7 +1170,7 @@ func TestContextRenderRedirectWith201(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestContextRenderRedirectAll(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(httptest.NewRecorder())
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "http://example.com", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 	assert.Panics(t, func() { c.Redirect(http.StatusOK, "/resource") })
 	assert.Panics(t, func() { c.Redirect(http.StatusAccepted, "/resource") })
 	assert.Panics(t, func() { c.Redirect(299, "/resource") })
@@ -1153,7 +1182,7 @@ func TestContextRenderRedirectAll(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextNegotiationWithJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Negotiate(http.StatusOK, Negotiate{
 		Offered: []string{MIMEJSON, MIMEXML, MIMEYAML},
@@ -1168,7 +1197,7 @@ func TestContextNegotiationWithJSON(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextNegotiationWithXML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Negotiate(http.StatusOK, Negotiate{
 		Offered: []string{MIMEXML, MIMEJSON, MIMEYAML},
@@ -1183,7 +1212,7 @@ func TestContextNegotiationWithXML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextNegotiationWithHTML(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, router := CreateTestContext(w)
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 	templ := template.Must(template.New("t").Parse(`Hello {{.name}}`))
 	router.SetHTMLTemplate(templ)
 
@@ -1201,7 +1230,7 @@ func TestContextNegotiationWithHTML(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextNegotiationNotSupport(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 
 	c.Negotiate(http.StatusOK, Negotiate{
 		Offered: []string{MIMEPOSTForm},
@@ -1214,7 +1243,7 @@ func TestContextNegotiationNotSupport(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestContextNegotiationFormat(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(httptest.NewRecorder())
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "", nil)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", nil)
 
 	assert.Panics(t, func() { c.NegotiateFormat() })
 	assert.Equal(t, MIMEJSON, c.NegotiateFormat(MIMEJSON, MIMEXML))
@@ -1305,6 +1334,7 @@ type testJSONAbortMsg struct {
 func TestContextAbortWithStatusJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	c.index = 4
 
 	in := new(testJSONAbortMsg)
@@ -1365,6 +1395,7 @@ func TestContextError(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestContextTypedError(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(httptest.NewRecorder())
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	c.Error(errors.New("externo 0")).SetType(ErrorTypePublic)  // nolint: errcheck
 	c.Error(errors.New("interno 0")).SetType(ErrorTypePrivate) // nolint: errcheck
 
@@ -1380,6 +1411,7 @@ func TestContextTypedError(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextAbortWithError(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	c.AbortWithError(http.StatusUnauthorized, errors.New("bad input")).SetMeta("some input") // nolint: errcheck
 
@@ -1537,7 +1569,7 @@ func TestContextBadAutoBind(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
 
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "http://example.com", bytes.NewBufferString("\"foo\":\"bar\", \"bar\":\"foo\"}"))
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", bytes.NewBufferString("\"foo\":\"bar\", \"bar\":\"foo\"}"))
 	c.Request.Header.Add("Content-Type", MIMEJSON)
 	var obj struct {
 		Foo string `json:"foo"`
@@ -1670,7 +1702,7 @@ func TestContextBadAutoShouldBind(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
 
-	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "http://example.com", bytes.NewBufferString("\"foo\":\"bar\", \"bar\":\"foo\"}"))
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("POST", "/", bytes.NewBufferString("\"foo\":\"bar\", \"bar\":\"foo\"}"))
 	c.Request.Header.Add("Content-Type", MIMEJSON)
 	var obj struct {
 		Foo string `json:"foo"`
@@ -1734,7 +1766,7 @@ func TestContextShouldBindBodyWith(t *testing.T) {
 			w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 			c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
 			c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest(
-				"POST", "http://example.com", bytes.NewBufferString(tt.bodyA),
+				"POST", "/", bytes.NewBufferString(tt.bodyA),
 			)
 			// When it binds to typeA and typeB, it finds the body is
 			// not typeB but typeA.
@@ -1752,7 +1784,7 @@ func TestContextShouldBindBodyWith(t *testing.T) {
 			w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 			c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
 			c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest(
-				"POST", "http://example.com", bytes.NewBufferString(tt.bodyB),
+				"POST", "/", bytes.NewBufferString(tt.bodyB),
 			)
 			objA := typeA{}
 			assert.Error(t, c.ShouldBindBodyWith(&objA, tt.bindingA))
@@ -1825,6 +1857,7 @@ func TestContextGetRawData(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderDataFromReader(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	body := "#!PNG some raw data"
 	reader := strings.NewReader(body)
@@ -1844,6 +1877,7 @@ func TestContextRenderDataFromReader(t *testing.T) {
 func TestContextRenderDataFromReaderNoHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Request, _ = http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 
 	body := "#!PNG some raw data"
 	reader := strings.NewReader(body)

gin.go

@@ -390,7 +390,6 @@ func (engine *Engine) HandleContext(c *Context) {
 }
 
 func (engine *Engine) handleHTTPRequest(c *Context) {
-	httpMethod := c.Request.Method
 	rPath := c.Request.URL.Path
 	unescape := false
 	if engine.UseRawPath && len(c.Request.URL.RawPath) > 0 {
@@ -402,40 +401,20 @@ func (engine *Engine) handleHTTPRequest(c *Context) {
 		rPath = cleanPath(rPath)
 	}
 
-	// Find root of the tree for the given HTTP method
+	if engine.handleHTTPRequestForMethod(c, c.Request.Method, rPath, unescape) {
-	t := engine.trees
+		return
-	for i, tl := 0, len(t); i < tl; i++ {
+	}
-		if t[i].method != httpMethod {
+
-			continue
+	// For HEAD requests, reaching here means no HEAD handler had been set up, so we retry the
-		}
+	// equivalent GET handler as if this had been a GET request. As expected for HEAD requests,
-		root := t[i].root
+	// the response content will of course be empty (see net/http for implementation details).
-		// Find route in tree
+	if c.Request.Method == http.MethodHead && engine.handleHTTPRequestForMethod(c, http.MethodGet, rPath, unescape) {
-		value := root.getValue(rPath, c.params, unescape)
+		return
-		if value.params != nil {
-			c.Params = *value.params
-		}
-		if value.handlers != nil {
-			c.handlers = value.handlers
-			c.fullPath = value.fullPath
-			c.Next()
-			c.writermem.WriteHeaderNow()
-			return
-		}
-		if httpMethod != "CONNECT" && rPath != "/" {
-			if value.tsr && engine.RedirectTrailingSlash {
-				redirectTrailingSlash(c)
-				return
-			}
-			if engine.RedirectFixedPath && redirectFixedPath(c, root, engine.RedirectFixedPath) {
-				return
-			}
-		}
-		break
 	}
 
 	if engine.HandleMethodNotAllowed {
 		for _, tree := range engine.trees {
-			if tree.method == httpMethod {
+			if tree.method == c.Request.Method {
 				continue
 			}
 			if value := tree.root.getValue(rPath, nil, unescape); value.handlers != nil {
@@ -449,6 +428,40 @@ func (engine *Engine) handleHTTPRequest(c *Context) {
 	serveError(c, http.StatusNotFound, default404Body)
 }
 
+func (engine *Engine) handleHTTPRequestForMethod(c *Context, httpMethod, rPath string, unescape bool) bool {
+	// Find root of the tree for the given HTTP method
+	for _, t := range engine.trees {
+		if t.method != httpMethod {
+			continue
+		}
+		root := t.root
+		// Find route in tree
+		value := root.getValue(rPath, c.params, unescape)
+		if value.params != nil {
+			c.Params = *value.params
+		}
+		if value.handlers != nil {
+			c.handlers = value.handlers
+			c.fullPath = value.fullPath
+			c.Next()
+			c.writermem.WriteHeaderNow()
+			return true
+		}
+		if httpMethod != "CONNECT" && rPath != "/" {
+			if value.tsr && engine.RedirectTrailingSlash {
+				redirectTrailingSlash(c)
+				return true
+			}
+			if engine.RedirectFixedPath && redirectFixedPath(c, root, engine.RedirectFixedPath) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+		break
+	}
+
+	return false // probably 404 or 406
+}
+
 var mimePlain = []string{MIMEPlain}
 
 func serveError(c *Context, code int, defaultMessage []byte) {

ginS/gins.go

@@ -58,16 +58,23 @@ func Handle(httpMethod, relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IR
 	return engine().Handle(httpMethod, relativePath, handlers...)
 }
 
+// GET is a shortcut for router.Handle("GET", path, handle)
+// HEAD requests will also be handled automatically by this handler.
+func GET(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
+	return engine().GET(relativePath, handlers...)
+}
+
+// HEAD is a shortcut for router.Handle("HEAD", path, handle)
+// This is rarely needed because every GET handler will also handle HEAD requests.
+func HEAD(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
+	return engine().HEAD(relativePath, handlers...)
+}
+
 // POST is a shortcut for router.Handle("POST", path, handle)
 func POST(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
 	return engine().POST(relativePath, handlers...)
 }
 
-// GET is a shortcut for router.Handle("GET", path, handle)
-func GET(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
-	return engine().GET(relativePath, handlers...)
-}
-
 // DELETE is a shortcut for router.Handle("DELETE", path, handle)
 func DELETE(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
 	return engine().DELETE(relativePath, handlers...)
@@ -88,11 +95,6 @@ func OPTIONS(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
 	return engine().OPTIONS(relativePath, handlers...)
 }
 
-// HEAD is a shortcut for router.Handle("HEAD", path, handle)
-func HEAD(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
-	return engine().HEAD(relativePath, handlers...)
-}
-
 // Any is a wrapper for Engine.Any.
 func Any(relativePath string, handlers ...gin.HandlerFunc) gin.IRoutes {
 	return engine().Any(relativePath, handlers...)

gin_test.go

@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ func TestListOfRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 
 	list := router.Routes()
 
-	assert.Len(t, list, 7)
+	assert.Len(t, list, 6)
 	assertRoutePresent(t, list, RouteInfo{
 		Method:  "GET",
 		Path:    "/favicon.ico",

logger_test.go

@@ -23,58 +23,58 @@ func TestLogger(t *testing.T) {
 	buffer := new(bytes.Buffer)
 	router := New()
 	router.Use(LoggerWithWriter(buffer))
-	router.GET("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.GET("/get", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.POST("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.POST("/post", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.PUT("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.PUT("/put", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.DELETE("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.DELETE("/delete", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.PATCH("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.PATCH("/patch", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.HEAD("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.HEAD("/head", func(c *Context) {})
-	router.OPTIONS("/example", func(c *Context) {})
+	router.OPTIONS("/options", func(c *Context) {})
 
-	performRequest(router, "GET", "/example?a=100")
+	performRequest(router, "GET", "/get?a=100")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "GET")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/get")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "a=100")
 
 	// I wrote these first (extending the above) but then realized they are more
 	// like integration tests because they test the whole logging process rather
 	// than individual functions.  Im not sure where these should go.
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "POST", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "POST", "/post")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "POST")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/post")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "PUT", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "PUT", "/put")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "PUT")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/put")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "DELETE", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "DELETE", "/delete")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "DELETE")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/delete")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "PATCH", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "PATCH", "/patch")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "PATCH")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/patch")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "HEAD", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "HEAD", "/head")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "HEAD")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/head")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
-	performRequest(router, "OPTIONS", "/example")
+	performRequest(router, "OPTIONS", "/options")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "200")
 	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "OPTIONS")
-	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/example")
+	assert.Contains(t, buffer.String(), "/options")
 
 	buffer.Reset()
 	performRequest(router, "GET", "/notfound")

routergroup.go

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func (group *RouterGroup) handle(httpMethod, relativePath string, handlers Handl
 // The last handler should be the real handler, the other ones should be middleware that can and should be shared among different routes.
 // See the example code in GitHub.
 //
-// For GET, POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE requests the respective shortcut
+// For GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE and OPTIONS requests the respective shortcut
 // functions can be used.
 //
 // This function is intended for bulk loading and to allow the usage of less
@@ -98,11 +98,18 @@ func (group *RouterGroup) POST(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRo
 	return group.handle(http.MethodPost, relativePath, handlers)
 }
 
-// GET is a shortcut for router.Handle("GET", path, handle).
+// GET is a shortcut for router.Handle("GET", path, handle). The equivalent
+// HEAD requests will also be handled automatically by this handler.
 func (group *RouterGroup) GET(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRoutes {
 	return group.handle(http.MethodGet, relativePath, handlers)
 }
 
+// HEAD is a shortcut for router.Handle("HEAD", path, handle). This is rarely needed
+// because every GET handler will also handle HEAD requests.
+func (group *RouterGroup) HEAD(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRoutes {
+	return group.handle(http.MethodHead, relativePath, handlers)
+}
+
 // DELETE is a shortcut for router.Handle("DELETE", path, handle).
 func (group *RouterGroup) DELETE(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRoutes {
 	return group.handle(http.MethodDelete, relativePath, handlers)
@@ -123,11 +130,6 @@ func (group *RouterGroup) OPTIONS(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc)
 	return group.handle(http.MethodOptions, relativePath, handlers)
 }
 
-// HEAD is a shortcut for router.Handle("HEAD", path, handle).
-func (group *RouterGroup) HEAD(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRoutes {
-	return group.handle(http.MethodHead, relativePath, handlers)
-}
-
 // Any registers a route that matches all the HTTP methods.
 // GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS, DELETE, CONNECT, TRACE.
 func (group *RouterGroup) Any(relativePath string, handlers ...HandlerFunc) IRoutes {
@@ -152,8 +154,9 @@ func (group *RouterGroup) StaticFile(relativePath, filepath string) IRoutes {
 	handler := func(c *Context) {
 		c.File(filepath)
 	}
+
+	// Register GET (and HEAD) handler
 	group.GET(relativePath, handler)
-	group.HEAD(relativePath, handler)
 	return group.returnObj()
 }
 
@@ -176,9 +179,8 @@ func (group *RouterGroup) StaticFS(relativePath string, fs http.FileSystem) IRou
 	handler := group.createStaticHandler(relativePath, fs)
 	urlPattern := path.Join(relativePath, "/*filepath")
 
-	// Register GET and HEAD handlers
+	// Register GET (and HEAD) handler
 	group.GET(urlPattern, handler)
-	group.HEAD(urlPattern, handler)
 	return group.returnObj()
 }
 

routergroup_test.go

@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ func TestRouterGroupBasicHandle(t *testing.T) {
 	performRequestInGroup(t, http.MethodPut)
 	performRequestInGroup(t, http.MethodPatch)
 	performRequestInGroup(t, http.MethodDelete)
-	performRequestInGroup(t, http.MethodHead)
 	performRequestInGroup(t, http.MethodOptions)
 }
 
@@ -70,9 +69,6 @@ func performRequestInGroup(t *testing.T, method string) {
 	case http.MethodDelete:
 		v1.DELETE("/test", handler)
 		login.DELETE("/test", handler)
-	case http.MethodHead:
-		v1.HEAD("/test", handler)
-		login.HEAD("/test", handler)
 	case http.MethodOptions:
 		v1.OPTIONS("/test", handler)
 		login.OPTIONS("/test", handler)
@@ -89,6 +85,30 @@ func performRequestInGroup(t *testing.T, method string) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "the method was "+method+" and index 1", w.Body.String())
 }
 
+func TestRouterGroupBasicHandleHEAD(t *testing.T) {
+	router := New()
+	v1 := router.Group("v1", func(c *Context) {})
+	assert.Equal(t, "/v1", v1.BasePath())
+
+	login := v1.Group("/login/", func(c *Context) {}, func(c *Context) {})
+	assert.Equal(t, "/v1/login/", login.BasePath())
+
+	handler := func(c *Context) {
+		c.String(http.StatusBadRequest, "the method was %s and index %d", c.Request.Method, c.index)
+	}
+
+	v1.HEAD("/test", handler)
+	login.HEAD("/test", handler)
+
+	w := performRequest(router, http.MethodHead, "/v1/login/test")
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusBadRequest, w.Code)
+	assert.Equal(t, "", w.Body.String())
+
+	w = performRequest(router, http.MethodHead, "/v1/test")
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusBadRequest, w.Code)
+	assert.Equal(t, "", w.Body.String())
+}
+
 func TestRouterGroupInvalidStatic(t *testing.T) {
 	router := New()
 	assert.Panics(t, func() {

routes_test.go

@@ -368,6 +368,18 @@ func TestRouterMiddlewareAndStatic(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "Gin Framework", w.Header().Get("x-GIN"))
 }
 
+func TestRouteHeadUsesGetHandlerByDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	router := New()
+	router.GET("/path", func(c *Context) {
+		c.String(http.StatusOK, "responseText")
+	})
+	w := performRequest(router, http.MethodHead, "/path")
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, w.Code)
+	// The response entity is blank because response rendering is suppressed for HEAD requests.
+	// Note that the Go net/http handlers would discard the entity for HEAD requests anyway.
+	assert.Equal(t, "", w.Body.String())
+}
+
 func TestRouteNotAllowedEnabled(t *testing.T) {
 	router := New()
 	router.HandleMethodNotAllowed = true
@@ -494,7 +506,7 @@ func TestRouterStaticFSNotFound(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "non existent", w.Body.String())
 
 	w = performRequest(router, http.MethodHead, "/nonexistent")
-	assert.Equal(t, "non existent", w.Body.String())
+	assert.Equal(t, "", w.Body.String())
 }
 
 func TestRouterStaticFSFileNotFound(t *testing.T) {