What are the differences between shallow and deep copying in programming?

Can you explain the differences between shallow and deep copying?

Sure! Shallow copying creates a new object but inserts references into it to the objects found in the original. Deep copying, on the other hand, creates a new object and recursively copies all objects found in the original, resulting in a completely independent object.

Can you give me an example of each?

Of course! In Python, you can use the copy module. For shallow copy, you can use copy.copy(original), and for deep copy, you can use copy.deepcopy(original).

What are the implications of using one over the other?

Using shallow copy can lead to unintended side effects if the original object is modified, as both copies will reference the same nested objects. Deep copy avoids this issue, but it can be more memory-intensive and slower.

When should I use shallow copy instead of deep copy?

You should use shallow copy when you are sure that the nested objects won't change or when performance is a concern, and you want to save memory.