How Do I Safely Convert a Slice of Strings to a Slice of Interfaces in Go?

Handling Typecasting in Go: Converting Slices of Strings to Interfaces

In Go, the interface{} type allows for representing values of any type. However, as explained in the question, this doesn't mean that []interface{} can be directly equated to slices of any other type.

Type Casting with Interfaces

Interface{} is a distinct type in Go, and values of other types can be assigned to it only by copying their data. For instance, converting a slice of strings to a slice of interfaces requires copying each string element individually:

func stringToInterface(strs []string) []interface{} {
    interfaces := make([]interface{}, len(strs))
    for i, str := range strs {
        interfaces[i] = str
    }
    return interfaces
}

Typecasting Example

Consider the following example:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    strs := []string{"a", "b", "c"}

    interfaces := stringToInterface(strs)

    fmt.Println("Original slice of strings:", strs)
    fmt.Println("Converted slice of interfaces:", interfaces)
}

Output:

Original slice of strings: [a b c]
Converted slice of interfaces: [a b c]

Here, the function stringToInterface creates a new slice of interfaces by copying the data from the slice of strings.

Custom Typecasting Functions

The conversion described above can also be generalized into a customizable function that handles typecasting between different slice types:

func typeCast[T any, U any](slice []T) []U {
    result := make([]U, len(slice))
    for i, v := range slice {
        result[i] = interface{}(v).(U)
    }
    return result
}

This function takes a slice of type T and returns a new slice of type U. It copies each element individually, ensuring type safety.

Alternative Solutions

Alternatively, consider using a pre-defined type that encapsulates your specific data requirement. For instance, a custom type representing a collection of any type could be defined and used instead of []interface{}.

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