code: func HTTPGet(httpUrl string) ([]byte, error) {
  
  	r, err := http.Get(httpUrl)
  
  	if err != nil {
  		return nil, err
  	}
  
  	defer r.Body.Close()
  
  	if err != nil {
  		return nil, err
  	}
  
  	// read the response and check
  	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
  	if err != nil {
  		return nil, err
  	}
  
  	return body, nil
  }
docs: /*
   * Performs a GET request to the given url
   * Returns a []byte containing the response body
   */