Why Golang uses dot for pointers

Question

Wouldn't it be more sensible to borrow the C notation -> ?It would be easy to understand that the LHS is a pointer. Now, it needs some mental work to disambiguate.

stefanos82 · Accepted Answer

> Wouldn't it be more sensible to borrow the C notation -> ?
No, because even in C, the operator `->`, like for instance, `pt->foo` it's just a shortcut for `(pt).foo`; therefore in Go the aforementioned example `(pt).foo` it's equivalent to `pt.foo`.
For more info, read https://tip.golang.org/ref/spec#Method_values where it talks about `selectors`.

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B · Answer

> more sensible to borrow the C notationIMHO, it would not because Go has been created for devs who have little programming experience, i.e. not necessarily C or C++. Why bother with symbols of the past?

Why Golang uses dot for pointers

Wouldn't it be more sensible to borrow the C notation -> ?
It would be easy to understand that the LHS is a pointer. Now, it needs some mental work to disambiguate.

> more sensible to borrow the C notation
IMHO, it would not because Go has been created for devs who have little programming experience, i.e. not necessarily C or C++. Why bother with symbols of the past?