# What to choose as the receiver for the Controller methods

Inside our controller-style routing, we declare a Controller and all the methods for handling HTTP requests are defined on the Controller.

Example:

import "github.com/beego/beego/v2/server/web"

type UserController struct {
	web.Controller
}

func (u *UserController) HelloWorld()  {
	u.Ctx.WriteString("hello, world")
}

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Note that the receiver we use here is the Pointer receiver. So can we not use a pointer receiver?

The answer is yes:

import "github.com/beego/beego/v2/server/web"

type UserController struct {
	web.Controller
}

func (u UserController) HelloWorld()  {
	u.Ctx.WriteString("hello, world")
}

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It is no different from writing with a pointer receiver, and Beego handles both correctly.

So the question is, which one should we use?

Preferring the use of pointers, as this is in line with long-standing Beego practice
If you use the CtrlXXX family methods for registration, consider using a non-pointer. Of course there is no functional difference, except that one is (*UserController).HelloWord and the other is UserController.HelloWord, the latter one looks more refreshing；

For Beego, it is possible to use any receiver, they do not differ in functionality. The rest is a matter of elegance and personal preference.