What is the difference between Go's value receivers and pointer receivers for methods in Go?

In Go, a method can be defined with either a value receiver or a pointer receiver. The main difference between the two is how they handle copies of the underlying object.

When a method is defined with a value receiver, it operates on a copy of the object. Any changes made to the object within the method will not be reflected outside of the method. This is because the method operates on a copy of the object's value, rather than on the original object itself.

When a method is defined with a pointer receiver, it operates on the original object itself. Any changes made to the object within the method will be reflected outside of the method. This is because the method operates on a pointer to the original object, rather than on a copy of the object's value.

In general, it is recommended to use pointer receivers for methods that need to modify the object's state, and value receivers for methods that only need to access the object's state. Using a pointer receiver for a method that only needs to access the object's state can be less efficient, as it requires the creation of a pointer to the object.