Go Language Data Structures

1. Arrays, Slices, and more Go Language Data Structures

2. Structs • A struct is a collection of fields • The keyword type is used to declare the type of the struct • Syntax: • type Vertex struct { X int Y int }

3. To access a field within a struct, use a dot • Syntax: • func main() { v := Vertex{9,5} //declare and initialize v v.X = 4 //set X equal to 4 fmt.Println(v.X) //print out X }

4. Struct Literals • You can initialize the values of the fields within the struct when you initialize the struct • red := Vertex{12,12} // X and Y equal 12 • You can use the variableName: to specify a particular value • yellow := Vertex{Y: 66, X: 12} //Y equals 66, X equals 12, order does not matter • Or you can implicitly assign values • blue := Vertex{} //X and Y are both implicitly assigned 0

5. Maps • A map matches keys to values • Maps are created with make before they are used • Syntax: • varmyMap map [string] Vertex • func main (){ myMap = make(map [string] Vertex) }

6. Assign a key to a value like this: • myMap [“Red”] = Vertex{12, 12} • Map literals are like struct literals, but the keys are required • varmyMap = map [string] Vertex{ “Red”: Vertex {12, 12}, “Yellow”: Vertex {12, 66}, } • Alternatively, if the top-level type is just a type name, you can omit it from the elements of the literal • varmyMap = map [string] Vertex{ “Red”: {12,12} “Yellow”: {12,66} }

7. Arrays • Arrays are structures that store one or more values linearly • Its values are accessed by integer indices from 0 to len(arrayName) – 1 • The len(arrayName) function is built in and returns the length of the passed in array • Syntax: myArray := [5] int {1,2,3,4,5}; • The size of an array is included as part of its type. So [2] int is a different type than [5]int.

8. Arrays in Go are different from arrays in C • Arrays are values. Assigning one array to another copies all its elements. • Passing an array to a function sends a copy of the array, not a pointer to it (unless otherwise specified). • The size of an array is part of its type. • Go does not support the pointer arithmetic tricks that you might use in C. Instead, when you make a pointer to an array, you get a pointer to the actual array, not just a pointer to something that happens to be the first thing in the array.

9. Arrays are one dimensional but can be composed to make multiple dimensions (an array of arrays) • [5] [15] int is equivalent to [5] ([15] int) • Syntax: • array2D := [2] ([3] int) { {1,2,3}, {4,5,6} } //an array with two elements, each element //being an array with 3 elements

10. Slices • A slice points to an array of values • It also has a built-in length • Syntax: • aSlice := []int {1,2,3} • A slice can be cut from an array • arrayName := [5] int {1,2,3,4,5} arraySlice := arrayName[a:b] • The size of a slice is b-a • arrayName[a:a] includes no elements • arrayName[a:a+1] includes one element

11. Slices are abstractions of arrays • Slices are more flexible than arrays and as a result are more common in Go code • Slices have no specified lengths like arrays do • Slices can be grown with the built-in copy or append function • The keyword range allows you to loop through an entire slice or array

12. Slices are also created with make • Syntax: • arraySlice := make([]int, 5) • This allocates an array of length 5 and returns a slice that refers to the array • All the values are initialized to 0 • The make function can also be passed a third parameter to specify the capacity of the slice • arraySlice := make([]int, 5, 10) • Here, the length is 5, but the slice can grow up to 10

13. Tying it all together • An application: creating a simple address book • addressBook.go maps values in a slice of strings to values in a slice of ints • addressBook2.go uses structs to achieve something similar