Why isn't a non-pointer value stored in an interface addressable? This is an excellent question, and the answer explains why an interface containing a non-pointer value can't be the receiver for a method with a pointer receiver, leading to the dreaded error:

<type> does not implement <interface> (<name> method has pointer receiver)

tl;dr

A non-pointer value stored in an interface isn't addressable to maintain type integrity. For example, a pointer to A, which points to a value of type A in an interface, would be invalidated when a value of a different type B is subsequently stored in the interface.

Because a non-pointer value stored in an interface isn't addressable, the compiler can't pass its address to a method with a pointer receiver.

Long answer

The answers I've seen online don't make much sense. For instance, this article says:

The reason is that the value in an interface is in a hidden memory location, and so the compiler can’t automatically get a pointer to that memory for you (in Go parlance, this is known as being “not addressable”).

It's true that the value stored in an interface is not addressable, but as far as I can see it's not because its stored in "a hidden memory location".

Another common answer is:

When an interface value is created, the value that is wrapped in the interface is copied. It is therefore not possible to take its address, and even if you did, using a pointer to the interface value would have unexpected effects (ie. unable to alter the original copied value).

This makes no sense, since a pointer to a value copied into an interface would be no different than a pointer to a value copied into a concrete type; in both cases you can't alter the original copied value through the pointer to the copy.

So why isn't a value stored in an interface addressable? The answer lies in the follow-on implications if it were addressable.

Let's say you have an interface, I, and two types, A and B, which satisfy that interface:

type I interface{} type A int type B string

Create an A and store it in an I:

func main() { var a A = 5 var i I = a fmt.Printf("i is of type %T

", i)

Let's pretend we could take the address of a value stored in an interface:

var aPtr *A aPtr = &(i.(A)) // not allowed, but if it were...

Now create a B and store it in i:

var b B = "hello" i = b fmt.Printf("i is of type %T, aPtr is of type %T

", i, aPtr) }

Here's the output:

i is of type main.A i is of type main.B, aPtr is of type *main.A

After putting a B into i, what is aPtr pointing to? aPtr was declared as pointing to an A, but t now contains a B, and aPtr is no longer a valid pointer to A.

This, however is permitted:

var aPtr *A var a2 A = i.(A) aPtr = &a2

Because the second line makes a copy of the value in i.(A), and aPtr does not point to i.(A).

So, why can't an interface containing a non-pointer value be the receiver for a method with a pointer receiver? Because a non-pointer value stored in an interface isn't addressable, so the compiler can't pass its address to a method with a pointer receiver.