How to Create and Use Pointers to Structs in Go?

In Go, creating and using pointers to structs involves several key steps:

1. Define a struct: First, define a struct, which will be the type that your pointer points to.

go
type Person struct {
    Name string
    Age  int
}

1. Create a pointer to a struct instance: You can create a pointer to a struct instance using the new keyword or the & operator.

   • Using the new keyword:

     go
     p := new(Person)

     Here, p is a pointer to the Person type, and the struct fields are initialized to zero values (i.e., strings are "" and integers are 0).

   • Using the & operator:

     go
     person := Person{Name: "Alice", Age: 30}
     p := &person

     Here, p is a pointer to the person instance.

2. Access and modify fields of the struct pointed to by the pointer: You can directly access and modify the struct fields through the pointer, even using the dot operator (.).

go
p.Name = "Bob"
p.Age = 25
fmt.Println(p.Name) // Output: "Bob"
fmt.Println(p.Age)  // Output: 25

This approach allows you to flexibly use pointers in Go to operate on struct instances and pass complex data structures through pointers without copying the entire struct, which is highly beneficial for improving program efficiency.