optimization - In golang, how can you get a reflect.Type instance of an struct without physically creating the struct? -

i want create registry of struct types enable dynamic loading of solutions 'project euler' problems. current solution requires struct first created , zeroed before it's type can registered:

package solution  import (     "errors"     "fmt"     "os"     "reflect" )  type solution interface {     load()     solve() string }  type solutionregister map[string]reflect.type  func (sr solutionregister) set(t reflect.type) {     fmt.printf("registering %s\n", t.name())     sr[t.name()] = t }  func (sr solutionregister) get(name string) (solution, error) {     if typ, ok := sr[name]; ok {         sol := reflect.new(typ).interface().(solution)         return sol, nil     }     return nil, errors.new("invalid solution: " + name) }  var solutionsregistry = make(solutionregister)  func register(sol solution) {     solutionsregistry.set(reflect.typeof(sol).elem()) }  func load(s string) solution {     sol, err := solutionsregistry.get(s)     if err != nil {         fmt.printf("error loading solution  %s (%s)\n", s, err)         os.exit(-1)     }     sol.load()     return sol }  type dummysolution struct {     data [100 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024]uint8 }  func (s *dummysolution) load() { }  func (s *dummysolution) solve() string {     return "" }  func init() {     register(&dummysolution{}) } 

in example type of 'dummysolution struct' registered inside init() function. structure purposefully absurdly large illustrate problem.

is there way access type of dummysolution , other solutions without having create instance of structure beforehand?

you can use reflect.typeof((*dummysolution)(nil)).elem(). making nil pointer doesn't allocate space whole struct, , elem (described under definition of reflect.type) gets pointer (or slice, array, channel, or map) element type.