Stack vs. Heap: Where Do Go Structs Live?

Stack vs Heap Allocation of Structs in Go

Go's memory management model can be confusing for those coming from different programming languages, as it differs from both C-style stack-based programming and Python-style stack-based programming. In Go, both stack and heap can be used for variable allocation, and the decision is made based on factors like escape analysis.

Question 1: Where is Example 2's Struct Declared?

In your example 2, the struct is allocated on the heap because the address of the struct is taken. In Go, taking the address of any part of a struct forces the entire struct to be allocated on the heap.

Question 2: Availability of Example 2's Struct after Function Returns

Even though example 2's struct is allocated on the heap, it remains available after the function returns because the garbage collector manages memory allocation and deallocation.

Question 3: Structs Passed by Value vs. Reference

In Go, everything is passed by value, regardless of whether the variable is a primitive type or a struct. When a pointer to a struct is returned, it's the value of the pointer itself that is passed, not the struct. This means that any modifications made to the struct through the pointer will be visible to the caller.

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