Pointers Cheatsheet

Operators

• &variable: Get the memory address (pointer) of a variable.
• *pointer: Dereference to get/set the value at that address.
• *type: Define a pointer type (e.g., *int, *User).

Common Operations

x := 10
p := &x       // Address-of
fmt.Println(*p) // Dereference (10)
*p = 20       // Mutate original

Structs

u := &User{Name: "Bob"}
u.Name = "Alice" // Shorthand for (*u).Name

Receivers

• Value Receiver: func (u User) ... (Works on a copy)
• Pointer Receiver: func (u *User) ... (Can modify original)

Key Rules

• Nil Safety: Always check if p != nil before dereferencing.
• Reference Types: Maps and slices are already reference types (don’t usually need a pointer to them).
• No Arithmetic: You cannot do p++ in Go.
• Performance: Small values are often faster on the stack than pointers on the heap.