How Expensive is Converting a String to a []byte in Go?

Delving into the Cost of String to []byte Conversion

In Go, strings and byte slices have a close relationship, but when converting between them, a crucial question arises: how expensive is the process?

Understanding the String-Byte Slice Conversion

The []byte(s) syntax may appear like a cast, but it's actually a conversion. While some conversions act like casts (e.g., int to uint), the string-byte slice conversion involves a necessary copy.

Copying Implications

Since byte slices are mutable and strings are immutable, the conversion from string to byte slice requires copying both the memory and content. This copy operation can impact performance in certain scenarios.

Absence of Encoding

Despite the conversion, no encoding transformations occur. The source string bytes are directly copied to the destination byte slice without any changes to their content. This behavior differs from the conversion between runes and UTF-8 encoded strings.

Conclusion

The conversion from string to byte slice is not instantaneous due to the necessary copying process. Developers should consider the performance implications of this conversion in their applications, especially when dealing with large strings or frequent conversions.

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