rust armanazi copy clone deeply shallow

In Rust, the concepts of copy and clone are used to create copies of data.

  • Copy: The Copy trait is used for types that can be duplicated bit-by-bit. When a variable of a type that implements the Copy trait is assigned to another variable, a bitwise copy of the data is made, and both variables are independent. The original variable and the copy can be modified independently without affecting each other.

  • Clone: The Clone trait is used for types that need more complex duplication logic. It provides a method called clone() that creates a new instance with the same values as the original. Unlike Copy, Clone performs a deep copy, which means that any owned data inside the type is also duplicated. The original variable and the clone are separate instances and can be modified independently.

  • Deep Copy: A deep copy creates a complete copy of an object, including all nested objects, recursively. In Rust, the Clone trait is used to implement deep copying.

  • Shallow Copy: A shallow copy creates a new object that shares the same memory as the original object. In Rust, the Copy trait is used to implement shallow copying.

To summarize, in Rust, the Copy trait is used for types that can be duplicated bit-by-bit, while the Clone trait is used for types that require more complex duplication logic. Copy performs a shallow copy, while Clone performs a deep copy.