I like Go, but my main annoyance is deciding when to use a pointer or not use a pointer as variable/receiver/argument. And if its an interface variable, it has a pointer to the concrete instance in the interface 'struct'. Some things are canonically passed as pointers like contexts.

It just feels sloppy and I'm worried I'm going to make a mistake.

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looshch 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> my main annoyance is deciding when to use a pointer or not use a pointer as variable/receiver/argument

i think you can take these[1][2][3][4] official advices and extrapolate to other cases

[1] https://go.dev/wiki/CodeReviewComments#receiver-type

[2] https://google.github.io/styleguide/go/decisions#receiver-ty...

[3] https://go.dev/doc/effective_go#pointers_vs_values

[4] https://go.dev/doc/faq#methods_on_values_or_pointers

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RadiozRadioz 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This confused me too. It is tricky because sometimes it's more performant to copy the data rather than use a pointer, and there's not a clear boundary as to when that is the case. The advice I was given was "profile your code and make your decision data-driven". That didn't make me happy.

Now I always use pointers consistently for the readability.

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empath75 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Using pointers as optional types is the absolute worst part of using go.

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aatd86 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I mostly use it as a signal for mutability to some extent.

And also when I want a value with stable identity I'd use a pointer.

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vbezhenar 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Just use pointers everywhere? Who cares.

	▲	softwaredoug 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		But just not a pointer to an interface. Its annoying to need to think about whether I’m working with an interface type of concrete type. And if use pointers everywhere, why not make it the default?

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spicyusername 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

...do you want a copy or the original object?

	▲	tgv 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Yup, that's it. If you're going to modify a field in the receiver, or want to pass a field by reference, you're going to need a pointer. Otherwise, a value will do, unless ... that weird interface thing makes you. I guess that's the problem?

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grey-area 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I just always use pointers for structs.

	▲	nikolayasdf123 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I 80% of time use structs. common misunderstanding: it does not reduce performance for pointer vs value receivers (Go compiler generates same code for both, no copy of struct receiver happens). most of structs are small anyways, safe to copy. Go also automatically translates value receivers and pointer receivers back-and-forth. and if I see pointer I see something that can be mutated (or very large). in fact, if I see a pointer, I think "here we go.. will it be mutated?". written 400,000 LOC in Go, rarely seeing this issue.