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python copy vs deepcopy

Edi Sugiarto answered on May 21, 2022 Popularity 9/10 Helpfulness 2/10

answer python copy vs deepcopy

python copy vs deepcopy

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For immutable objects, there is no need for copying because 
the data will never change, so Python uses the same data; 
ids are always the same. For mutable objects, 
since they can potentially change, [shallow] copy creates a new object.

Deep copy is related to nested structures. 
If you have list of lists, then deepcopy copies the nested lists also, 
so it is a recursive copy. With just copy, you have a new outer list, 
but inner lists are references.

Assignment (=) does not copy. It simply sets the reference to the old data. 
So you need copy to create a new list with the same contents.

Popularity 9/10 Helpfulness 2/10 Language python

Source: stackoverflow.com

Tags: copy deep-copy python

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