How do pointers work in Go and how are they safer than C pointers?

x := 42
p := &x          // & gives the address of x; p is *int
fmt.Println(*p)  // 42 — * dereferences: gives the value at the address

*p = 100         // modify x through the pointer
fmt.Println(x)   // 100

// new() — allocates a zeroed value and returns its pointer
q := new(int)    // *int pointing to 0
*q = 55

// nil pointer — the zero value for any pointer type
var ptr *int
fmt.Println(ptr)      // 
// fmt.Println(*ptr)  // PANIC: nil pointer dereference

// Passing by pointer — allows a function to modify the caller's variable
func increment(n *int) { *n++ }
val := 10
increment(&val)
fmt.Println(val)  // 11

// SAFE: returning pointer to local — Go's escape analysis handles this
type Point struct{ X, Y int }
func newPoint(x, y int) *Point {
    p := Point{x, y}  // may be allocated on heap by compiler
    return &p          // safe in Go; would be dangling pointer in C!
}

// Auto-dereference on struct pointers — no -> operator needed
pp := &Point{1, 2}
pp.X = 10  // same as (*pp).X = 10