How Can I Create a True Copy of an Object in C#?

Copying objects in C#: in-depth analysis

The following code snippet demonstrates a scenario where two object references objectA and objectB point to the same instance of the MyClass class. This is common behavior for reference types in C# since they only refer to a memory location rather than containing the data itself. However, in some cases, it is necessary to create completely independent copies of the object, pointing to different memory addresses.

Use ICloneable for shallow copy

In order to implement shallow copying (only copying the state of non-reference type members of the original object), C# provides the ICloneable interface. Implementing this interface allows a class to define custom cloning behavior.

<code class="language-csharp">class myClass : ICloneable
{
    public String test;
    public object Clone()
    {
        return this.MemberwiseClone();
    }
}</code>

MemberwiseClone method performs a shallow copy of the object, copying the values ​​of all non-reference type members. We create a custom cloning mechanism for the ICloneable class by implementing MemberwiseClone and overriding its Clone method with MyClass .

Create independent objects

To create a standalone instance of MyClass, use the Clone method:

<code class="language-csharp">myClass a = new myClass();
myClass b = (myClass)a.Clone();</code>

This will make objectB refer to a new instance of MyClass that has a different memory address than objectA . However, it is important to note that this is a shallow copy, which means that any reference type members within the object still point to the same memory location as the original object. To implement a deep copy, further copying of reference type members is usually required.

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