golang-data-structures

Built-in and standard library data structures: internals, correct usage, and selection guidance.

• For safety pitfalls (nil maps, append aliasing, defensive copies) see samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-safety skill.
• For channels and sync primitives see samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-concurrency skill.
• For string/byte/rune choice see samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-design-patterns skill.

1. Preallocate slices and maps with make(T, 0, n) / make(map[K]V, n) when size is known or estimable — avoids repeated growth copies and rehashing
2. Arrays SHOULD be preferred over slices only for fixed, compile-time-known sizes (hash digests, IPv4 addresses, matrix dimensions)
3. NEVER rely on slice capacity growth timing — the growth algorithm changed between Go versions and may change again; your code should not depend on when a new backing array is allocated
4. Use container/heap for priority queues, container/list only when frequent middle insertions are needed, container/ring for fixed-size circular buffers
5. strings.Builder MUST be preferred for building strings; bytes.Buffer MUST be preferred for bidirectional I/O (implements both io.Reader and io.Writer)
6. Generic data structures SHOULD use the tightest constraint possible — comparable for keys, custom interfaces for ordering
7. unsafe.Pointer MUST only follow the 6 valid conversion patterns from the Go spec — NEVER store in a uintptr variable across statements
8. weak.Pointer[T] (Go 1.24+) SHOULD be used for caches and canonicalization maps to allow GC to reclaim entries

A slice is a 3-word header: pointer, length, capacity. Multiple slices can share a backing array (→ see samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-safety for aliasing traps and the header diagram).

Maps are hash tables with 8-entry buckets and overflow chains. They are reference types — assigning a map copies the pointer, not the data.

Fixed-size, value types. Copied entirely on assignment. Use for compile-time-known sizes:

type Digest [32]byte           // fixed-size, value type
var grid [3][3]int             // multi-dimensional
cache := map[[2]int]Result{}   // arrays are comparable — usable as map keys

Prefer slices for everything else — arrays cannot grow and pass by value (expensive for large sizes).

Container types use any (no type safety) — consider generic wrappers. Container Patterns, bufio, and Examples — When to use each container type, generic wrappers to add type safety, and bufio patterns for efficient I/O.

Use strings.Builder for pure string concatenation (avoids copy on String()), bytes.Buffer when you need io.Reader or byte manipulation. Both support Grow(n). Details and comparison

Use the tightest constraint possible. comparable for map keys, cmp.Ordered for sorting, custom interfaces for domain-specific ordering.

type Set[T comparable] map[T]struct{}

func (s Set[T]) Add(v T)          { s[v] = struct{}{} }
func (s Set[T]) Contains(v T) bool { _, ok := s[v]; return ok }

Writing Generic Data Structures — Using Go 1.18+ generics for type-safe containers, understanding constraint satisfaction, and building domain-specific generic types.

Pointer Types Deep Dive — Normal pointers, unsafe.Pointer (the 6 valid spec patterns), and weak.Pointer[T] for GC-safe caches that don't prevent cleanup.

For advanced data structures (trees, sets, queues, stacks) beyond the standard library:

• emirpasic/gods — comprehensive collection library (trees, sets, lists, stacks, maps, queues)
• deckarep/golang-set — thread-safe and non-thread-safe set implementations
• gammazero/deque — fast double-ended queue

When using third-party libraries, refer to their official documentation and code examples for current API signatures.

• For Go package docs, symbols, versions, importers, and known vulnerabilities, → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev skill (godig) — prefer it over Context7 for Go package facts.
• To navigate this library's usage in your own code (definitions, call sites, diagnostics), → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-gopls skill (gopls).
• Context7 remains a fallback for docs not indexed on pkg.go.dev.

• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-performance skill for struct field alignment, memory layout optimization, and cache locality
• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-safety skill for nil map/slice pitfalls, append aliasing, defensive copying, slices.Clone/Equal
• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-concurrency skill for channels, sync.Map, sync.Pool, and all sync primitives
• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-design-patterns skill for string vs []byte vs []rune, iterators, streaming
• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-structs-interfaces skill for struct composition, embedding, and generics vs any
• → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-code-style skill for slice/map initialization style

• Go Data Structures (Russ Cox)
• The Go Memory Model
• Effective Go