A (really naive) example of controlling variables via a goroutine

getset.go

package main

import (
  "fmt"
)

type Gender int

const (
  Male Gender = iota
  Female
  Other
  Unspecified
)

type Operation int

const (
  Get Operation = iota
  Set
)

type Command struct {
  Op     Operation
  Var    string
  Value  interface{}
  Return chan interface{}
}

func run(in <-chan Command) {
  var (
    name    string
    age     int
    gender  Gender
    address []string
  )

  for o := range in {
    switch o.Var {
    case "name":
        switch o.Op {
        case Get:
          o.Return <- name
        case Set:
          name = o.Value.(string)
          o.Return <- true
        default:
          o.Return <- false
        }
    case "age":
        switch o.Op {
        case Get:
          o.Return <- age
        case Set:
          age = o.Value.(int)
          o.Return <- true
        default:
          o.Return <- false
        }
    case "gender":
        switch o.Op {
        case Get:
          o.Return <- gender
        case Set:
          gender = o.Value.(Gender)
          o.Return <- true
        default:
          o.Return <- false
        }
    case "address":
        switch o.Op {
        case Get:
          o.Return <- address
        case Set:
          address = o.Value.([]string)
          o.Return <- true
        default:
          o.Return <- false
        }
    default:
        o.Return <- false
    }
  }
}

func main() {
  cmd := make(chan Command)
  go run(cmd)

  sync := make(chan interface{})

  cmd <- Command{
    Op:     Set,
    Var:    "name",
    Value:  "Gopher",
    Return: sync,
  }
  <-sync

  cmd <- Command{
    Op:     Get,
    Var:    "name",
    Return: sync,
  }
  fmt.Printf("Name: %v\n", <-sync)
}