package main
import "fmt"
func main() {
a := SomeType{myslice: []int{1, 2, 3}, decimal: 2.33}
for _, i := range a.myslice {
fmt.Println(i)
}
fmt.Println(a.decimal)
addOne(a)
for _, i := range a.myslice {
fmt.Println(i)
}
fmt.Println(a.decimal)
}
type SomeType struct {
myslice []int
decimal float32
}
func addOne(s SomeType) {
s.myslice[0]++
s.decimal += 1.2
}
The output for the code above is:
1 2 3 2.33 2 2 3 2.33
Even though i have not passed the SomeType object a by reference the myslice field is being modified in the original object. Why is this happening? Is there anyway to pass the entire object by value without having to create a copy of the original object?
The slice is not really being passed by reference; if you append to it in addOne, its length will not change. But a slice contains a reference (or pointer) to its backing array. So when you copy a slice, the new one shares the same backing array with the old one.
The fact that the slice is inside a struct doesn't make any difference. You would see the same thing if you changed addOne to just take a slice instead of the whole struct.