An example of using pointers in Go.

pointer.go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {

	// POINTERS
	
	i := 7
	
	// The value of i
	fmt.Println(i)   // prints 7
	
	// A Pointer to i's memory address
	fmt.Println(&i)  // prints the memory address of i, e.g. 0xc000018050
	
	// Try to increment i using addOne (implemented below, outside the Main function)
	addOne(i)
	fmt.Println(i)   // ...but it remains 7. This is because addOne just operates on a copy of i
	
	addOneReally(&i) // pass in the pointer to the i's memory address
	fmt.Println(i)   // prints 8
	
}

// Increment the argument by 1
func addOne(x int){
	// copy the variable passed in and operate on that
	x++
}

// Increment the value behind the memory address by 1
func addOneReally(x *int){
	// get the value behind the argument's memory address and increment it by 1
	*x++
}