Defining golang struct function using pointer or not

Question

Can someone explain to me why appending to an array works when you do this:

func (s *Sample) Append(name string) {
    d := &Stuff{
        name: name,
    }         


        

Answer 1

Go passes arguments by value, not by reference, unless you use a pointer. So inside the function, you're not modifying s in any outer scope if you simply pass by value. However, when you pass a pointer, you're able to modify the "real" variable rather than just the copy that exists inside the function.