Struct pointers in Go - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is a struct pointer in Go?

A struct pointer in Go is a variable that holds the memory address of a struct. It allows you to access and modify the struct's fields directly through the pointer.

beginner

How do you declare a pointer to a struct in Go?

You declare a pointer to a struct by using the * symbol before the struct type. For example: var p *Person declares a pointer to a Person struct.

beginner

How do you access struct fields using a pointer in Go?

You can access struct fields using the pointer with the dot operator directly, like p.Name. Go automatically dereferences the pointer for you.

intermediate

What is the difference between a struct value and a struct pointer when passing to a function?

Passing a struct value copies the entire struct, so changes inside the function don't affect the original. Passing a struct pointer passes the address, so changes inside the function modify the original struct.

intermediate

How do you create a new struct pointer with initialized values?

You can use the new keyword or take the address of a struct literal. For example: p := new(Person) or p := &Person{Name: "Alice"}.

Which symbol is used to declare a pointer to a struct in Go?

A *

B &

C #

D $

The asterisk (*) is used to declare a pointer type in Go, including pointers to structs.

How do you access a field 'Name' of a struct through a pointer 'p' in Go?

A (*p).Name

B p->Name

C p.Name

D p*Name

In Go, you can access struct fields through a pointer using the dot operator directly, like p.Name. The language automatically dereferences the pointer.

What happens when you pass a struct pointer to a function?

A The function gets a copy of the struct

B The function cannot access the struct fields

C The struct is converted to a string

D The function can modify the original struct

Passing a struct pointer allows the function to modify the original struct because it receives the address.

Which of these creates a new struct pointer with initialized values?

A p := Person{Name: "Bob"}

B p := &Person{Name: "Bob"}

C p := *Person{Name: "Bob"}

D p := new(Person{Name: "Bob"})

Using &Person{...} creates a pointer to a new struct initialized with the given values.

What does the 'new' keyword do when used with a struct type?

A Creates a pointer to a zero-valued struct

B Deletes the struct

C Creates a struct value

D Copies the struct

The 'new' keyword allocates memory for a zero-valued struct and returns its pointer.

Explain how struct pointers work in Go and how you can use them to modify struct data.

Think about how pointers let you work directly with the original data.

Describe two ways to create a struct pointer with initial values in Go.

One way uses 'new', the other uses & with curly braces.