new-one-slice.md

Slice

type slice struct {
	array unsafe.Pointer
	len   int
	cap   int
}

The array of slice is a pointer to a piece of contiguous memory.

Look at the growslice function again, this is the function called by append.

func growslice(et *_type, old slice, cap int) slice {
	if raceenabled {
		callerpc := getcallerpc(unsafe.Pointer(&et))
		racereadrangepc(old.array, uintptr(old.len*int(et.size)), callerpc, funcPC(growslice))
	}
	if msanenabled {
		msanread(old.array, uintptr(old.len*int(et.size)))
	}

	if et.size == 0 {
		if cap < old.cap {
			panic(errorString("growslice: cap out of range"))
		}
		// append should not create a slice with nil pointer but non-zero len.
		// We assume that append doesn't need to preserve old.array in this case.
		return slice{unsafe.Pointer(&zerobase), old.len, cap}
	}

	newcap := old.cap
	doublecap := newcap + newcap
	if cap > doublecap {
		newcap = cap
	} else {
		if old.len < 1024 {
			newcap = doublecap
		} else {
			for newcap < cap {
				newcap += newcap / 4
			}
		}
	}

	var lenmem, newlenmem, capmem uintptr
	const ptrSize = unsafe.Sizeof((*byte)(nil))
	switch et.size {
	case 1:
		lenmem = uintptr(old.len)
		newlenmem = uintptr(cap)
		capmem = roundupsize(uintptr(newcap))
		newcap = int(capmem)
	case ptrSize:
		lenmem = uintptr(old.len) * ptrSize
		newlenmem = uintptr(cap) * ptrSize
		capmem = roundupsize(uintptr(newcap) * ptrSize)
		newcap = int(capmem / ptrSize)
	default:
		lenmem = uintptr(old.len) * et.size
		newlenmem = uintptr(cap) * et.size
		capmem = roundupsize(uintptr(newcap) * et.size)
		newcap = int(capmem / et.size)
	}

	if cap < old.cap || uintptr(newcap) > maxSliceCap(et.size) {
		panic(errorString("growslice: cap out of range"))
	}

	var p unsafe.Pointer
	if et.kind&kindNoPointers != 0 {
		p = mallocgc(capmem, nil, false)
		memmove(p, old.array, lenmem)
		// The append() that calls growslice is going to overwrite from old.len to cap (which will be the new length).
		// Only clear the part that will not be overwritten.
		memclrNoHeapPointers(add(p, newlenmem), capmem-newlenmem)
	} else {
		// Note: can't use rawmem (which avoids zeroing of memory), because then GC can scan uninitialized memory.
		p = mallocgc(capmem, et, true)
		if !writeBarrier.enabled {
			memmove(p, old.array, lenmem)
		} else {
			for i := uintptr(0); i < lenmem; i += et.size {
				typedmemmove(et, add(p, i), add(old.array, i))
			}
		}
	}

	return slice{p, old.len, newcap}
}

Cap is the number of elements that can be accommodated in the pre-allocated memory of the current slice, if new elements are continuously added to the slice. If the cap of the current slice is exceeded, new memory needs to be allocated, and all elements of the current slice are copied to the new memory block.