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Deep cloning objects

Asked 2008-09-17T00:06:27.547
2684

I want to do something like:

MyObject myObj = GetMyObj(); // Create and fill a new object
MyObject newObj = myObj.Clone();

And then make changes to the new object that are not reflected in the original object.

I don't often need this functionality, so when it's been necessary, I've resorted to creating a new object and then copying each property individually, but it always leaves me with the feeling that there is a better or more elegant way of handling the situation.

How can I clone or deep copy an object so that the cloned object can be modified without any changes being reflected in the original object?

c# .net clone deep-copy
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1 Answer

454

I wanted a cloner for very simple objects of mostly primitives and lists. If your object is out of the box JSON serializable then this method will do the trick. This requires no modification or implementation of interfaces on the cloned class, just a JSON serializer like JSON.NET.

public static T Clone<T>(T source)
{
    var serialized = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(source);
    return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(serialized);
}

Also, you can use this extension method

public static class SystemExtension
{
    public static T Clone<T>(this T source)
    {
        var serialized = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(source);
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(serialized);
    }
}
answered 2013-04-03T13:31:02.153

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