What are the differences between a shallow copy and a deep copy in object cloning?
Hey Joe
In object cloning, there are two main methods to create copies: shallow copy and deep copy. A shallow copy creates a new object but does not create copies of the objects that the original refers to; instead, it just copies references to those objects. This means that if you modify the contents of an object referred to by the shallow copy, the original object will also reflect those changes. On the other hand, a deep copy creates a new object and also recursively creates copies of all the objects the original refers to.
As a result, changes made to the deep-copied object do not affect the original object, ensuring complete independence between the two. In summary, while a shallow copy replicates references, a deep copy duplicates the entire hierarchy of contained objects.