What does the asterisk do in "Go"?

Im guessing it means the same as in C

p is a pointer to a string

The statement var p *string = &s would assign the address of the s object to p

Next line *p = "ciao" would change the contents of s

See this link from the Language Design FAQ

Interestingly, no pointer arithmetic

Why is there no pointer arithmetic? Safety. Without pointer arithmetic it's possible to create a language that can never derive an illegal address that succeeds incorrectly. Compiler and hardware technology have advanced to the point where a loop using array indices can be as efficient as a loop using pointer arithmetic. Also, the lack of pointer arithmetic can simplify the implementation of the garbage collector.

* attached to a type (*string) indicates a pointer to the type.

* attached to a variable in an assignment (*v = ...) indicates an indirect assignment. That is, change the value pointed at by the variable.

* attached to a variable or expression (*v) indicates a pointer dereference. That is, take the value the variable is pointing at.

& attached to a variable or expression (&v) indicates a reference. That is, create a pointer to the value of the variable or to the field.