ptr

Overview ¶

Package ptr provides generic utility functions for working with pointers. It simplifies common operations such as creating a pointer from a literal value, safely dereferencing a potentially nil pointer, and comparing pointer values.

Creating Pointers with `Of` ¶

In Go, you cannot take the address of a literal value directly. This package solves that problem, which is especially useful for populating struct fields that are pointers.

type Config struct {
	Timeout *int
	Name    *string
}

// Verbose way without the ptr package:
//
// timeout := 30
// name := "default-name"
// cfg := Config{
// 	Timeout: &timeout,
// 	Name:    &name,
// }

// Concise way with the ptr package:
cfg := Config{
	Timeout: ptr.Of(30),
	Name:    ptr.Of("default-name"),
}

Safely Dereferencing with `Value` ¶

Dereferencing a nil pointer causes a panic. The `Value` function provides a safe way to get the value of a pointer, returning the zero value of the type if the pointer is nil.

var timeout *int // nil
var name = ptr.Of("my-app")

// Safely get the value or the zero value (0 for int).
timeoutValue := ptr.Value(timeout) // Returns 0

// Safely get the value of a non-nil pointer.
nameValue := ptr.Value(name) // Returns "my-app"

Comparing Pointers with `Equal` ¶

The `Equal` function safely compares the values that two pointers point to. It handles nil pointers gracefully.

p1 := ptr.Of(100)
p2 := ptr.Of(100)
p3 := ptr.Of(200)
var p4 *int // nil

ptr.Equal(p1, p2) // true
ptr.Equal(p1, p3) // false
ptr.Equal(p1, p4) // false
ptr.Equal(p4, p4) // true