How to Safely Assign an Integer Value to an Int Pointer in Go?

Setting an Int Pointer to an Int Value in Go

When assigning an integer value to an int pointer in Go, it's essential to ensure the pointer itself is not nil. This error arises when attempting to dereference a nil pointer, leading to a runtime panic.

The solution lies in initializing the pointer to point to a valid memory location. This can be achieved using the new() built-in function, which allocates memory for a new int and returns a pointer to it. Here's an example:

var guess *int
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(guess))  // Outputs: *int
guess = new(int)                  // Allocates memory for a new int
*guess = 12345                    // Dereferences the pointer and sets the value to 12345
fmt.Println(guess)                 // Outputs: 0x10414028 (address of the allocated memory)

This modification ensures that the pointer points to an allocated memory location before accessing the pointed value. Alternatively, you can directly assign the address of a variable to the pointer variable:

value := 12345
guess = &value  // Assigns the address of value to guess pointer

In this case, the pointer points to the memory location of the value variable, allowing you to manipulate the value through the pointer.

Remember that modifying the pointed value through the pointer also affects the value of the variable it references. Conversely, changing the value of the referenced variable directly also changes the pointed value. This dual relationship between the pointer and the referenced variable is an important concept to understand in pointer usage.

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