Are maps passed by value or by reference in Go?

Question

Are maps passed by value or reference in Go ?

It is always possible to define a function as following, but is this an overkill ?

func foo(dat *map[string         


        

Answer 1

No. Maps are reference by default.

    package main

    import "fmt"

    func mapToAnotherFunction(m map[string]int) {
        m["hello"] = 3
        m["world"] = 4
        m["new_word"] = 5
    }

    // func mapToAnotherFunctionAsRef(m *map[string]int) {
    // m["hello"] = 30
    // m["world"] = 40
    // m["2ndFunction"] = 5
    // }

    func main() {
        m := make(map[string]int)
        m["hello"] = 1
        m["world"] = 2

        // Initial State
        for key, val := range m {
            fmt.Println(key, "=>", val)
        }

        fmt.Println("-----------------------")

        mapToAnotherFunction(m)
        // After Passing to the function as a pointer
        for key, val := range m {
            fmt.Println(key, "=>", val)
        }

        // Try Un Commenting This Line
        fmt.Println("-----------------------")

        // mapToAnotherFunctionAsRef(&m)
        // // After Passing to the function as a pointer
        // for key, val := range m {
        //  fmt.Println(key, "=>", val)
        // }

        // Outputs
        // hello => 1
        // world => 2
        // -----------------------
        // hello => 3
        // world => 4
        // new_word => 5
        // -----------------------

    }

From Golang Blog-

Map types are reference types, like pointers or slices, and so the value of m above is nil; it doesn't point to an initialized map. A nil map behaves like an empty map when reading, but attempts to write to a nil map will cause a runtime panic; don't do that. To initialize a map, use the built in make function:

// Ex of make function
m = make(map[string]int)

Code Snippet Link Play with it.