Why Can't I Take the Address of a String Literal in Go?

Reference to String Literals in Go

Taking string references in Go offers performance benefits by avoiding memory allocation on each call. However, obtaining a reference to a string literal directly, as attempted in test1() in the example below, raises an issue.

Why is this not possible?

Taking the address of a string literal is prohibited due to ambiguous semantics. This ambiguity centers around whether the reference applies to the constant itself or to a copy of the constant. Taking the constant's address could potentially lead to Runtime errors by allowing its value to be modified.

Best Solution

The most effective solution, as demonstrated in test2(), involves using a pointer to an existing variable rather than a string literal. This approach is more verbose but conforms to Go's syntax and ensures clear semantics.

Exception: Composite Literals

The language specification makes an exception for composite literals, as shown in test3(). This allows for the creation of an anonymous struct and the subsequent retrieval of its address.

While this exception exists, the recommended approach for handling references to static strings remains test2() as it maintains simplicity and clarity.

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