Make copy of an array

Question

I have an array a which is constantly being updated. Let's say a = [1,2,3,4,5]. I need to make an exact duplicate copy of a and call it b. If a were to change to [6,7,8,9,10], b should still be [1,2,3,4,5]. What is the best way to do this? I tried a for loop like:

for(int i=0; i<5; i++) {
    b[i]=a[i];
}

but that doesn't seem to work correctly. Please don't use advanced terms like deep copy, etc., because I do not know what that means.

Answer 1

You can try using System.arraycopy()

int[] src  = new int[]{1,2,3,4,5};
int[] dest = new int[5];

System.arraycopy( src, 0, dest, 0, src.length );

But, probably better to use clone() in most cases:

int[] src = ...
int[] dest = src.clone();

Answer 2

you can use

int[] a = new int[]{1,2,3,4,5};
int[] b = a.clone();

as well.

Answer 3

If you want to make a copy of:

int[] a = {1,2,3,4,5};

This is the way to go:

int[] b = Arrays.copyOf(a, a.length);

Arrays.copyOf may be faster than a.clone() on small arrays. Both copy elements equally fast but clone() returns Object so the compiler has to insert an implicit cast to int[]. You can see it in the bytecode, something like this:

ALOAD 1
INVOKEVIRTUAL [I.clone ()Ljava/lang/Object;
CHECKCAST [I
ASTORE 2

Answer 4

Nice explanation from http://www.journaldev.com/753/how-to-copy-arrays-in-java

Java Array Copy Methods

Object.clone(): Object class provides clone() method and since array in java is also an Object, you can use this method to achieve full array copy. This method will not suit you if you want partial copy of the array.

System.arraycopy(): System class arraycopy() is the best way to do partial copy of an array. It provides you an easy way to specify the total number of elements to copy and the source and destination array index positions. For example System.arraycopy(source, 3, destination, 2, 5) will copy 5 elements from source to destination, beginning from 3rd index of source to 2nd index of destination.

Arrays.copyOf(): If you want to copy first few elements of an array or full copy of array, you can use this method. Obviously it’s not versatile like System.arraycopy() but it’s also not confusing and easy to use.

Arrays.copyOfRange(): If you want few elements of an array to be copied, where starting index is not 0, you can use this method to copy partial array.

Answer 5

I have a feeling that all of these "better ways to copy an array" are not really going to solve your problem.

You say

I tried a for loop like [...] but that doesn't seem to be working correctly?

Looking at that loop, there's no obvious reason for it not to work ... unless:

• you somehow have the a and b arrays messed up (e.g. a and b refer to the same array), or
• your application is multi-threaded and different threads are reading and updating the a array simultaneously.

In either case, alternative ways of doing the copying won't solve the underlying problem.

The fix for the first scenario is obvious. For the second scenario you will have to figure out some way of synchronizing the threads. Atomic array classes don't help because they have no atomic copy constructors or clone methods, but synchronizing using a primitive mutex will do the trick.

(There are hints in your question that lead me to think that this is indeed thread related; e.g. your statement that a is constantly changing.)

Answer 6

You can try using Arrays.copyOf() in Java

int[] a = new int[5]{1,2,3,4,5};
int[] b = Arrays.copyOf(a, a.length);

Answer 7

All solution that call length from array, add your code redundant null checkersconsider example:

int[] a = {1,2,3,4,5};
int[] b = Arrays.copyOf(a, a.length);
int[] c = a.clone();

//What if array a comes as local parameter? You need to use null check:

public void someMethod(int[] a) {
    if (a!=null) {
        int[] b = Arrays.copyOf(a, a.length);
        int[] c = a.clone();
    }
}

I recommend you not inventing the wheel and use utility class where all necessary checks have already performed. Consider ArrayUtils from apache commons. You code become shorter:

public void someMethod(int[] a) {
    int[] b = ArrayUtils.clone(a);
}

Apache commons you can find there

Answer 8

You can also use Arrays.copyOfRange.

Example:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    int[] a = {1,2,3};
    int[] b = Arrays.copyOfRange(a, 0, a.length);
    a[0] = 5;
    System.out.println(Arrays.toString(a)); // [5,2,3]
    System.out.println(Arrays.toString(b)); // [1,2,3]
}

This method is similar to Arrays.copyOf, but it's more flexible. Both of them use System.arraycopy under the hood.

See:

• https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/Arrays.html
• https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/arrays.html
• http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/root/jdk/openjdk/8u40-b25/java/util/Arrays.java?av=f

Answer 9

If you must work with raw arrays and not ArrayList then Arrays has what you need. If you look at the source code, these are the absolutely best ways to get a copy of an array. They do have a good bit of defensive programming because the System.arraycopy() method throws lots of unchecked exceptions if you feed it illogical parameters.

You can use either Arrays.copyOf() which will copy from the first to Nth element to the new shorter array.

public static <T> T[] copyOf(T[] original, int newLength)

Copies the specified array, truncating or padding with nulls (if necessary) so the copy has the specified length. For all indices that are valid in both the original array and the copy, the two arrays will contain identical values. For any indices that are valid in the copy but not the original, the copy will contain null. Such indices will exist if and only if the specified length is greater than that of the original array. The resulting array is of exactly the same class as the original array.

2770
2771    public static <T,U> T[] More ...copyOf(U[] original, int newLength, Class<? extends T[]> newType) {
2772        T[] copy = ((Object)newType == (Object)Object[].class)
2773            ? (T[]) new Object[newLength]
2774            : (T[]) Array.newInstance(newType.getComponentType(), newLength);
2775        System.arraycopy(original, 0, copy, 0,
2776                         Math.min(original.length, newLength));
2777        return copy;
2778    }

or Arrays.copyOfRange() will also do the trick:

public static <T> T[] copyOfRange(T[] original, int from, int to)

Copies the specified range of the specified array into a new array. The initial index of the range (from) must lie between zero and original.length, inclusive. The value at original[from] is placed into the initial element of the copy (unless from == original.length or from == to). Values from subsequent elements in the original array are placed into subsequent elements in the copy. The final index of the range (to), which must be greater than or equal to from, may be greater than original.length, in which case null is placed in all elements of the copy whose index is greater than or equal to original.length - from. The length of the returned array will be to - from. The resulting array is of exactly the same class as the original array.

3035    public static <T,U> T[] More ...copyOfRange(U[] original, int from, int to, Class<? extends T[]> newType) {
3036        int newLength = to - from;
3037        if (newLength < 0)
3038            throw new IllegalArgumentException(from + " > " + to);
3039        T[] copy = ((Object)newType == (Object)Object[].class)
3040            ? (T[]) new Object[newLength]
3041            : (T[]) Array.newInstance(newType.getComponentType(), newLength);
3042        System.arraycopy(original, from, copy, 0,
3043                         Math.min(original.length - from, newLength));
3044        return copy;
3045    }

As you can see, both of these are just wrapper functions over System.arraycopy with defensive logic that what you are trying to do is valid.

System.arraycopy is the absolute fastest way to copy arrays.

Answer 10

For a null-safe copy of an array, you can also use an optional with the Object.clone() method provided in this answer.

int[] arrayToCopy = {1, 2, 3};
int[] copiedArray = Optional.ofNullable(arrayToCopy).map(int[]::clone).orElse(null);

Answer 11

I had a similar problem with 2D arrays and ended here. I was copying the main array and changing the inner arrays' values and was surprised when the values changed in both copies. Basically both copies were independent but contained references to the same inner arrays and I had to make an array of copies of the inner arrays to get what I wanted.

This is sometimes called a deep copy. The same term "deep copy" can also have a completely different and arguably more complex meaning, which can be confusing, especially to someone not figuring out why their copied arrays don't behave as they should. It probably isn't the OP's problem, but I hope it can still be helpful.