Copying data in Python

Copying data

CoSpy a dictionary

A dictionary object has the method copy. It performs a shallow copy of the dictionary.

d1 = {1:[]}
d2 = d1.copy()
d1 is d2 False
d1[1] is d2[1]
True

Performing a shallow copy

A shallow copy is a copy of a collection without performing a copy of its elements.

import copy
c = [[1,2]]
d = copy.copy(c)
c is d
False
c[0] is d[0]
True

Performing a deep copy

If you have nested lists, it is desirable to clone the nested lists as well. This action is called deep copy.

import copy
c = [[1,2]]
d = copy.deepcopy(c)
c is d
False
c[0] is d[0] False

Performing a shallow copy of a list

You can create shallow copies of lists using slices.

l1 = [1,2,3]
l2 = l1[:]# Perform the shallow copy.
l2
[1,2,3]
l1 is l2 False

Copy a set

Sets also have a copymethod. You can use this method to perform a shallow copy.

s1 = {()}
s2 = s1.copy()
s1 is s2

False
s2.add(3)
s1
{[]}
s2 {3,[]}

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