Deep Copy using Reflection in an Extension Method for Silverlight?

Question

So I\'m trying to find a generic extension method that creates a deep copy of an object using reflection, that would work in Silverlight. Deep copy using serialization is no

Answer 1

Can't you just use regular .NET reflection? Serialize your object to a MemoryStream and then deserialize it back. This will create a deep copy (ultimately using reflection) and will require hardly any code on your part:

T DeepCopy(T instance)
{
  BinaryFormatter formatter=new BinaryFormatter();

  using(var stream=new MemoryStream())
  {
    formatter.Serialize(stream, instance);
    stream.Position=0;

    return (T)formatter.Deserialize(stream);
  }
}