Go - Slice

Go Slice is an abstraction over Go Array. Go Array allows you to define variables that can hold several data items of the same kind but it does not provide any inbuilt method to increase its size dynamically or get a sub-array of its own. Slices overcome this limitation. It provides many utility functions required on Array and is widely used in Go programming.

Defining a slice

To define a slice, you can declare it as an array without specifying its size. Alternatively, you can use make function to create a slice.

var numbers []int /* a slice of unspecified size */
/* numbers == []int{0,0,0,0,0}*/
numbers = make([]int,5,5) /* a slice of length 5 and capacity 5*/

len() and cap() functions

A slice is an abstraction over array. It actually uses arrays as an underlying structure. The len() function returns the elements presents in the slice where cap() function returns the capacity of the slice (i.e., how many elements it can be accommodate). The following example explains the usage of slice −

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
   var numbers = make([]int,3,5)
   printSlice(numbers)
}
func printSlice(x []int){
   fmt.Printf("len=%d cap=%d slice=%v\n",len(x),cap(x),x)
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

len = 3 cap = 5 slice = [0 0 0]

Nil slice

If a slice is declared with no inputs, then by default, it is initialized as nil. Its length and capacity are zero. For example −

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
   var numbers []int
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   if(numbers == nil){
      fmt.Printf("slice is nil")
   }
}
func printSlice(x []int){
   fmt.Printf("len = %d cap = %d slice = %v\n", len(x), cap(x),x)
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

len = 0 cap = 0 slice = []
slice is nil

Subslicing

Slice allows lower-bound and upper bound to be specified to get the subslice of it using[lower-bound:upper-bound]. For example −

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
   /* create a slice */
   numbers := []int{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}   
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   /* print the original slice */
   fmt.Println("numbers ==", numbers)
   
   /* print the sub slice starting from index 1(included) to index 4(excluded)*/
   fmt.Println("numbers[1:4] ==", numbers[1:4])
   
   /* missing lower bound implies 0*/
   fmt.Println("numbers[:3] ==", numbers[:3])
   
   /* missing upper bound implies len(s)*/
   fmt.Println("numbers[4:] ==", numbers[4:])
   
   numbers1 := make([]int,0,5)
   printSlice(numbers1)
   
   /* print the sub slice starting from index 0(included) to index 2(excluded) */
   number2 := numbers[:2]
   printSlice(number2)
   
   /* print the sub slice starting from index 2(included) to index 5(excluded) */
   number3 := numbers[2:5]
   printSlice(number3)
   
}
func printSlice(x []int){
   fmt.Printf("len = %d cap = %d slice = %v\n", len(x), cap(x),x)
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

len = 9 cap = 9 slice = [0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8]
numbers == [0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8]
numbers[1:4] == [1 2 3]
numbers[:3] == [0 1 2]
numbers[4:] == [4 5 6 7 8]
len = 0 cap = 5 slice = []
len = 2 cap = 9  slice = [0 1]
len = 3 cap = 7 slice = [2 3 4]

append() and copy() Functions

One can increase the capacity of a slice using the append() function. Using copy()function, the contents of a source slice are copied to a destination slice. For example −

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
   var numbers []int
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   /* append allows nil slice */
   numbers = append(numbers, 0)
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   /* add one element to slice*/
   numbers = append(numbers, 1)
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   /* add more than one element at a time*/
   numbers = append(numbers, 2,3,4)
   printSlice(numbers)
   
   /* create a slice numbers1 with double the capacity of earlier slice*/
   numbers1 := make([]int, len(numbers), (cap(numbers))*2)
   
   /* copy content of numbers to numbers1 */
   copy(numbers1,numbers)
   printSlice(numbers1)   
}
func printSlice(x []int){
   fmt.Printf("len=%d cap=%d slice=%v\n",len(x),cap(x),x)
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

len = 0 cap = 0 slice = []
len = 1 cap = 2 slice = [0]
len = 2 cap = 2 slice = [0 1]
len = 5 cap = 8 slice = [0 1 2 3 4]
len = 5 cap = 16 slice = [0 1 2 3 4]

Go arrays allow you to define variables that can hold several data items of the same kind. Structure is another user-defined data type available in Go programming, which allows you to combine data items of different kinds.
Structures are used to represent a record. Suppose you want to keep track of the books in a library. You might want to track the following attributes of each book −

Title
Author
Subject
Book ID

In such a scenario, structures are highly useful.

Defining a Structure

To define a structure, you must use type and struct statements. The struct statement defines a new data type, with multiple members for your program. The type statement binds a name with the type which is struct in our case. The format of the struct statement is as follows −

type struct_variable_type struct {
   member definition;
   member definition;
   ...
   member definition;
}

Once a structure type is defined, it can be used to declare variables of that type using the following syntax.

variable_name := structure_variable_type {value1, value2...valuen}

Accessing Structure Members

To access any member of a structure, we use the member access operator (.). The member access operator is coded as a period between the structure variable name and the structure member that we wish to access. You would use struct keyword to define variables of structure type. The following example explains how to use a structure −

package main

import "fmt"

type Books struct {
   title string
   author string
   subject string
   book_id int
}
func main() {
   var Book1 Books    /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   var Book2 Books    /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   Book1.title = "Go Programming"
   Book1.author = "Mahesh Kumar"
   Book1.subject = "Go Programming Tutorial"
   Book1.book_id = 6495407

   /* book 2 specification */
   Book2.title = "Telecom Billing"
   Book2.author = "Zara Ali"
   Book2.subject = "Telecom Billing Tutorial"
   Book2.book_id = 6495700
 
   /* print Book1 info */
   fmt.Printf( "Book 1 title : %s\n", Book1.title)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 1 author : %s\n", Book1.author)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 1 subject : %s\n", Book1.subject)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 1 book_id : %d\n", Book1.book_id)

   /* print Book2 info */
   fmt.Printf( "Book 2 title : %s\n", Book2.title)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 2 author : %s\n", Book2.author)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 2 subject : %s\n", Book2.subject)
   fmt.Printf( "Book 2 book_id : %d\n", Book2.book_id)
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book 1 title      : Go Programming
Book 1 author     : Mahesh Kumar
Book 1 subject    : Go Programming Tutorial
Book 1 book_id    : 6495407
Book 2 title      : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author     : Zara Ali
Book 2 subject    : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book 2 book_id    : 6495700

Structures as Function Arguments

You can pass a structure as a function argument in very similar way as you pass any other variable or pointer. You would access structure variables in the same way as you did in the above example −

package main

import "fmt"

type Books struct {
   title string
   author string
   subject string
   book_id int
}
func main() {
   var Book1 Books    /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   var Book2 Books    /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   Book1.title = "Go Programming"
   Book1.author = "Mahesh Kumar"
   Book1.subject = "Go Programming Tutorial"
   Book1.book_id = 6495407

   /* book 2 specification */
   Book2.title = "Telecom Billing"
   Book2.author = "Zara Ali"
   Book2.subject = "Telecom Billing Tutorial"
   Book2.book_id = 6495700
 
   /* print Book1 info */
   printBook(Book1)

   /* print Book2 info */
   printBook(Book2)
}
func printBook( book Books ) {
   fmt.Printf( "Book title : %s\n", book.title);
   fmt.Printf( "Book author : %s\n", book.author);
   fmt.Printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book.subject);
   fmt.Printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book.book_id);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book title     : Go Programming
Book author    : Mahesh Kumar
Book subject   : Go Programming Tutorial
Book book_id   : 6495407
Book title     : Telecom Billing
Book author    : Zara Ali
Book subject   : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book book_id   : 6495700

Pointers to Structures

You can define pointers to structures in the same way as you define pointer to any other variable as follows −

var struct_pointer *Books

Now, you can store the address of a structure variable in the above defined pointer variable. To find the address of a structure variable, place the & operator before the structure's name as follows −

struct_pointer = &Book1;

To access the members of a structure using a pointer to that structure, you must use the "." operator as follows −

struct_pointer.title;

Let us re-write the above example using structure pointer −

package main

import "fmt"

type Books struct {
   title string
   author string
   subject string
   book_id int
}
func main() {
   var Book1 Books   /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   var Book2 Books   /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   Book1.title = "Go Programming"
   Book1.author = "Mahesh Kumar"
   Book1.subject = "Go Programming Tutorial"
   Book1.book_id = 6495407

   /* book 2 specification */
   Book2.title = "Telecom Billing"
   Book2.author = "Zara Ali"
   Book2.subject = "Telecom Billing Tutorial"
   Book2.book_id = 6495700
 
   /* print Book1 info */
   printBook(&Book1)

   /* print Book2 info */
   printBook(&Book2)
}
func printBook( book *Books ) {
   fmt.Printf( "Book title : %s\n", book.title);
   fmt.Printf( "Book author : %s\n", book.author);
   fmt.Printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book.subject);
   fmt.Printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book.book_id);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book title     : Go Programming
Book author    : Mahesh Kumar
Book subject   : Go Programming Tutorial
Book book_id   : 6495407
Book title     : Telecom Billing
Book author    : Zara Ali
Book subject   : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book book_id   : 6495700