Shallow Copy & Deep Copy in Javascript

Tom and Jerry are best friends. They have a big math exam coming up. Tom studied hard and is ready, but Jerry didn't study and decides to copy Tom's answers.

Shallow Copy: A Quick Cheat

Scenario:

• During the exam,Jerry copies Tom’s answers and also understands why Tom chose those answers.

• Jerry takes notes and studies Tom’s rough work.

• If Tom changes his answer for the first question to "A" Jerry understands the reason and also changes his answer to "A"

Explanation:

• This is like a shallow copy in Javascript.

• Jerry’s answers are initially the same as Tom’s, but they are separate after copying. Changes Tom makes later don’t affect Jerry’s answers.

• A shallow copy means copying the main answers, but not any changes made later.

  

  

  

Deep Copy: A Thorough Cheat

Scenario:

• During the exam, Jerry sits next to Tom and copies Tom's answers exactly as they are.

• If Tom writes "B" for the second question, Jerry writes "B" too.

• After copying, if Tom changes his answer for the Second question to "A" Jerry doesn't notice and keeps "B"

Explanation:

• This is like a shallow copy in Javascript.

• Jerry’s answers are initially the same as Tom’s, but they are separate after copying. Changes Tom makes later don’t affect Jerry’s answers.

  

  

Summary

• Shallow Copy:

  • Creates a new reference to the same object.

  • Changes to the original object are reflected in the shallow copy.

• Deep Copy:

  • Creates a completely new object with the same values.

  • Changes to the original object do not affect the deep copy.

The choice between shallow and deep copying depends on whether you need independent copies of the objects or if referencing the same object suffices for your use case.

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