Pointers and memory

Build the mental model first

Go rewards a small number of ideas applied consistently: keep ownership clear, make failure explicit, and prefer code whose behavior is easy to test. Today’s focus is pointers and memory. Begin by connecting it to code you already understand, then isolate one behavior at a time.

Use pointers, nil, new and make without importing C’s mental model. Read the example slowly. Predict the result before running it, name the rule that produced it, and change one input. That short loop turns documentation into working knowledge.

Use the toolchain as feedback

Format early, run focused tests, and read the complete failure before editing. Go’s compiler and standard tools are part of the learning environment. A short, repeatable loop beats a large untested change.

Try · predict before you run

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
	fmt.Println("Pointers and memory")
}

// Make the smallest behavior observable.
// Then add one edge case and run it again.

// Local workflow
// gofmt -w .
// go test ./...
// go vet ./...

Make it yours

Coding tasks