Questions
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What is the difference between pass-by-value and pass-by-pointer in Go?
Go is always pass-by-value, but passing a pointer passes the memory address by value, allowing the function to mutate the original data.
Go has no pass-by-reference in the C++ sense. Everything is copied — but when you pass a pointer, the copy is of the address, so the function can follow that address to read or mutate the original value.
Value vs pointer semantics
When to use pointer receivers
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When the method needs to mutate the receiver's fields
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When the struct is large and copying would be expensive
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For consistency — if any method on a type uses a pointer receiver, all methods should
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Use value receivers for small, immutable structs like coordinate points
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Interfaces store a copy for value receivers; pointer receivers require a pointer to satisfy the interface