Why Use Slices Instead of Pointers When Passing Arrays in Go?

Using Pointers to Arrays in Go: Exploring an Alternative

In Google's Go language, working with arrays can sometimes present challenges, particularly when attempting to pass pointers to them in functions. This question explores a specific issue encountered while attempting to access an array slice within a function using a pointer.

The initial assumption was that passing a pointer to an array slice would allow direct access to its elements. However, this approach encountered an error from the Go compiler, raising the question of whether there was a better way.

Upon further investigation, it was found that Go's effective Go documentation recommends passing slices rather than pointers to arrays in most cases. This is because slices are reference types, making them efficient for passing.

Here's how one could rewrite the function using a slice-based approach:

func conv(x []int, h []int) {
    y := make([]int, len(x)+len(h)-1)

    for i := 0; i < len(x); i++ {
        for j := 0; j < len(h); j++ {
            y[i+j] += x[i] * h[j]
        }
    }
}

By opting to use slices instead, the workaround mentioned in the question becomes unnecessary. Moreover, this approach aligns with Go's recommended practices for passing arrays and slices to functions effectively.

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