Let's say I have the following hierarchy for my project:
fragment/fragment.go
main.go
And in the fragment.go I have the following code, with one getter and no setter:
package fragment
type Fragment struct {
number int64 // private variable - lower case
}
func (f *Fragment) GetNumber() *int64 {
return &f.number
}
And in the main.go I create a Fragment and try to change Fragment.number without a setter:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"myproject/fragment"
)
func main() {
f := new(fragment.Fragment)
fmt.Println(*f.GetNumber()) // prints 0
//f.number = 8 // error - number is private
p := f.GetNumber()
*p = 4 // works. Now f.number is 4
fmt.Println(*f.GetNumber()) // prints 4
}
So by using the pointer, I changed the private variable outside of the fragment package. I understand that in for example C, pointers help to avoid copying large struct/arrays and they are supposed to enable you to change whatever they're pointing to. But I don't quite understand how they are supposed to work with private variables.
So my questions are:
- Shouldn't the private variables stay private, no matter how they are accessed?
- How is this compared to other languages such as C++/Java? Is it the case there too, that private variables can be changed using pointers outside of the class?
My Background: I know a bit C/C++, rather fluent in Python and new to Go. I learn programming as a hobby so don't know much about technical things happening behind the scenes.
