Typed helper functions

The other, frequently seen pattern is a per-type helper function, ex. (Go playground):

// PtrInt returns *i.
func PtrInt(i int) *int {
    return &i
}
// PtrStr returns *s.
func PtrStr(s string) *string {
    return &s
}
func main() {
    // Use the two helper functions that return pointers to their provided
    // values. Remember, this pattern must scale with the number of distinct,
    // defined types that need to be passed by pointer instead of value.
    print(request{
        host: PtrStr("local"),
        port: PtrInt(80),
    })
}

This approach requires a new function, per type. Surely there must be a more elegant solution…

Next: A generic solution