What is the difference between deep and shallow copy?

Deep copy and shallow copy are two different ways of copying objects in programming. Here is the step-by-step explanation of the difference between deep and shallow copy:

1. Shallow Copy:

   • Shallow copy creates a new object and copies the reference of the original object into it.
   • The new object and the original object will point to the same memory location.
   • Any changes made to the original object will be reflected in the new object and vice versa.
   • Shallow copy is a bit faster and less memory-consuming compared to deep copy.

2. Deep Copy:

   • Deep copy creates a completely independent copy of the original object.
   • It creates a new object and recursively copies all the objects referenced by the original object.
   • The new object and the original object will have their own separate memory locations.
   • Any changes made to the original object will not affect the new object, and vice versa.
   • Deep copy is slower and more memory-consuming compared to shallow copy.

To summarize, the main difference between deep and shallow copy lies in how they handle the references to the objects. Shallow copy creates a new object with a reference to the original object, while deep copy creates a completely independent copy of the original object.

Deep copy and shallow copy are two different ways of copying objects in programming. Here is the step-by-step explanation of the difference between deep and shallow copy:

1. Shallow Copy:

   • Shallow copy creates a new object and copies the reference of the original object into it.
   • The new object and the original object will point to the same memory location.
   • Any changes made to the original object will be reflected in the new object and vice versa.
   • Shallow copy is a bit faster and less memory-consuming compared to deep copy.

2. Deep Copy:

   • Deep copy creates a completely independent copy of the original object.
   • It creates a new object and recursively copies all the objects referenced by the original object.
   • The new object and the original object will have their own separate memory locations.
   • Any changes made to the original object will not affect the new object, and vice versa.
   • Deep copy is slower and more memory-consuming compared to shallow copy.

To summarize, the main difference between deep and shallow copy lies in how they handle the references to the objects. Shallow copy creates a new object with a reference to the original object, while deep copy creates a completely independent copy of the original object.