Shallow copy or Deep copy?

Question

I am a bit new to these two methods of copying one object into the other. I am confused and unable to spot out the major difference between deep copy and shallow copy.. I ha

Answer 1

In my opinion, it is not a strict shallow copy or deep copy. If I have to define it, I would say shallow copy.

ob2 = ob1; This code creates two object references that both refer to the same object. Therefore, any changes to the object made through ob1 will be reflected in subsequent uses of ob2.

Example from MSDN would be better to explain the differences for shallow copy, deep copy and just simply class copy.

 using System;

    public class IdInfo
    {
        public int IdNumber;

        public IdInfo(int IdNumber)
        {
            this.IdNumber = IdNumber;
        }
    }

    public class Person
    {
        public int Age;
        public string Name;
        public IdInfo IdInfo;

        public Person ShallowCopy()
        {
            return (Person)this.MemberwiseClone();
        }

        public Person DeepCopy()
        {
            Person other = (Person)this.MemberwiseClone();
            other.IdInfo = new IdInfo(this.IdInfo.IdNumber);
            other.Name = String.Copy(this.Name);
            return other;
        }
    }

    public class Example
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            // Create an instance of Person and assign values to its fields.
            Person p1 = new Person();
            p1.Age = 42;
            p1.Name = "Sam";
            p1.IdInfo = new IdInfo(6565);

            // Perform a shallow copy of p1 and assign it to p2.
            Person p2 = (Person)p1.ShallowCopy();

            // Display values of p1, p2
            Console.WriteLine("Original values of p1 and p2:");
            Console.WriteLine("   p1 instance values: ");
            DisplayValues(p1);
            Console.WriteLine("   p2 instance values:");
            DisplayValues(p2);

            // Change the value of p1 properties and display the values of p1 and p2.
            p1.Age = 32;
            p1.Name = "Frank";
            p1.IdInfo.IdNumber = 7878;
            Console.WriteLine("\nValues of p1 and p2 after changes to p1:");
            Console.WriteLine("   p1 instance values: ");
            DisplayValues(p1);
            Console.WriteLine("   p2 instance values:");
            DisplayValues(p2);

            // Make a deep copy of p1 and assign it to p3.
            Person p3 = p1.DeepCopy();
            // Change the members of the p1 class to new values to show the deep copy.
            p1.Name = "George";
            p1.Age = 39;
            p1.IdInfo.IdNumber = 8641;
            Console.WriteLine("\nValues of p1 and p3 after changes to p1:");
            Console.WriteLine("   p1 instance values: ");
            DisplayValues(p1);
            Console.WriteLine("   p3 instance values:");
            DisplayValues(p3);

            // Make an equal of p1 and assign it to p4.
            Person p4 = new Person();
            p4 = p1;
            // Change the members of the p1 class to new values to show the equal copy.
            p1.Name = "Will";
            p1.Age = 30;
            p1.IdInfo.IdNumber = 8484;
            Console.WriteLine("\nValues of p1 and p4 after changes to p1:");
            Console.WriteLine("   p1 instance values: ");
            DisplayValues(p1);
            Console.WriteLine("   p4 instance values:");
            DisplayValues(p4);
        }

        public static void DisplayValues(Person p)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("      Name: {0:s}, Age: {1:d}", p.Name, p.Age);
            Console.WriteLine("      Value: {0:d}", p.IdInfo.IdNumber);
        }
    }

Here are the results:

Original values of p1 and p2:    p1 instance values:
      Name: Sam, Age: 42
      Value: 6565    p2 instance values:
      Name: Sam, Age: 42
      Value: 6565

Values of p1 and p2 after changes to p1:    p1 instance values:
      Name: Frank, Age: 32
      Value: 7878    p2 instance values:
      Name: Sam, Age: 42
      Value: 7878

Values of p1 and p3 after changes to p1:    p1 instance values:
      Name: George, Age: 39
      Value: 8641    p3 instance values:
      Name: Frank, Age: 32
      Value: 7878

Values of p1 and p4 after changes to p1:    p1 instance values:
      Name: Will, Age: 30
      Value: 8484    p4 instance values:
      Name: Will, Age: 30
      Value: 8484