Deep copying an object in C#

To make a deep copy of an object is to clone it. When we use the = operator, we are not cloning an object; instead, we are referencing our variable to the same object (i.e., shallow copy).

In other words, changing one variable’s value affects the other variable’s value because they are referring (or pointing) to the same object. This is not the case with a deep copy; the difference between a shallow and a deep copy is that modifying a deep copy’s object’s values does not modify the original object (unlike in shallow copying).

class DeepCopyDemo { 
static void Main(string[] args) 
{ 
    
      Person p1 = new Person();
      p1.name = "Hassan";
      p1.age = 22;
      p1.ID = new PersonID(3343);
    
      // Calling DeepCopy() method					 
      Person p2 = p1.DeepCopy();
      System.Console.WriteLine("Before Changing: "); 
    
      // Value of attributes of c1 and c2 before changing
      // the values 
      System.Console.WriteLine("p1 instance values: ");
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Name: {0:s},   Age: {1:d}", p1.name, p1.age);
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Value: {0:d}", p1.ID.IDNumber);
      System.Console.WriteLine("p2 instance values:");
      
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Name: {0:s},   Age: {1:d}", p2.name, p2.age);
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Value: {0:d}", p2.ID.IDNumber);
      // Modifying attributes of p1
      p1.name = "Hamza";
      p1.age = 20;
      p1.ID.IDNumber = 4344;
      System.Console.WriteLine("\nAfter Changing attributes of p1: "); 
    
      // Value of attributes of c1 and c2 after changing
      // the values 
      System.Console.WriteLine("p1 instance values: ");
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Name: {0:s},   Age: {1:d}", p1.name, p1.age);
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Value: {0:d}", p1.ID.IDNumber);
      System.Console.WriteLine("p2 instance values:");
      
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Name: {0:s},   Age: {1:d}", p2.name, p2.age);
      System.Console.WriteLine("     Value: {0:d}", p2.ID.IDNumber);
    } 
};
public class PersonID
{
    public int IDNumber;
    
    public PersonID(int id)
    {
        this.IDNumber = id;
    }
}
public class Person 
{
    public int age;
    public string name;
    public PersonID ID;
    public Person DeepCopy()
    {
      Person temp = (Person) this.MemberwiseClone();
      temp.ID = new PersonID(this.ID.IDNumber);
      temp.name = this.name;
      return temp;
    }
}

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Deep copying an object in C#

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