Go Object Oriented Programming Pointer Vs Value receiver
Example
the receiver of a method is usually a pointer for performance reason because we wouldn't make a copy of the instance, as it would be the case in value receiver, this is especially true if the receiver type is a struct. anoter reason to make the receiver type a pointer would be so we could modify the data the receiver points to.
a value receiver is used to avoid modification of the data the receiver contains, a vaule receiver may cause a performance hit if the receiver is a large struct.
package main
type User struct {
ID uint64
FullName, Email string
}
// We do no require any special syntax to access field because receiver is a pointer
func (user *User) SendEmail(email string) {
fmt.Printf("Sent email to: %s\n", user.Email)
}
// ChangeMail will modify the users email because the receiver type is a ponter
func (user *User) ChangeEmail(email string) {
user.Email = email;
}
func main() {
user := User{
1,
"Zelalem Mekonen",
"[email protected]",
}
user.SendEmail("Hello") // Sent email to: [email protected]
user.ChangeEmail("[email protected]")
fmt.Println(user.Email) // [email protected]
}
