What is a copy constructor in Java?

In Java, a constructor method or subroutine is just like a normal function, and the only variation is that the constructor method has the same name as the class name. It helps to create an instance of the class and call it explicitly. This special type of method does not return anything.

Types of constructor

Default constructor
Parameterized constructor
Copy constructor

Parameterized constructor

A constructor that accepts at least one argument is said to be a parameterized constructor. To initialize an object, the initial values have to be passed as arguments public Car(String _model, String _color) to the constructor method, as shown below.

Copy constructor

A copy constructor is a variant of the constructor method of a class that creates an exact copy of an existing object. When someone wants to copy a complicated object or copy with some edits, we use a copy constructor. It allows us to do either a deep or shallow copy of that object. A copy constructor can be called in various scenarios. For instance:

In a scenario when an object is returned by value from a function.
In a scenario when an object of a class is being passed, by value, to a method as an argument.
In a scenario when you want a deep copy of that object instead of using the clone() method.
Create a copy of that complex object, i.e., multiple fields.

In Java, the default copy constructor is not available, unlike in C/C++. So, it should be defined by the user before use.

// How copy cotructor called explicitly
public class Car
{
    public String model;
    public String color;
    
    // Parameterized Constructor
    public Car(String _model, String _color)
    {
        this.model = _model;
        this.color = _color;
    }
    
    //Copy Constructor
    public Car(Car c)
    {
        System.out.println("Copy Constructor Called");
        this.model = c.model;
        this.color = c.color;   
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Car c1 = new Car("Toyota Fortuner SIGMA 4x4","Phantom Brown");       
            // here a copy constructor is being called.
        Car c2 =  new Car(c1);
        
        System.out.println("\t#1");
        System.out.println(c1.model + " " + c1.color); // prints "Toyota Fortuner SIGMA 4x4 Phantom Brown"
        System.out.println(c2.model + " " + c2.color); // prints "Toyota Fortuner SIGMA 4x4 Phantom Brown"
        
        c2.model = "Toyota Fortuner V 4x4";
        c2.color = "Grey Metallic";
        System.out.println("\t#2");
        System.out.println(c1.model + " " + c1.color); // prints "Toyota Fortuner SIGMA 4x4 Phantom Brown"
        System.out.println(c2.model + " " + c2.color); // prints "Toyota Fortuner V 4x4 Grey Metallic"
    }
}

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What is a copy constructor in Java?

Types of constructor

Parameterized constructor

Copy constructor

Syntax

Code