24. Shallow vs Deep Copy: Cloning & OOP

The Scenario

Object duplication is a key concept in OOP. If an object contains references to other objects, simply copying the reference leads to a "Shallow Copy".

class Engine {
    String type = "V8";
}

class Car implements Cloneable {
    Engine engine = new Engine();
    
    public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
        return super.clone(); // Default behavior
    }
}

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        Car car1 = new Car();
        Car car2 = (Car) car1.clone();
        
        car2.engine.type = "V12";
        
        System.out.println("Car 1 Engine: " + car1.engine.type);
        System.out.println("Car 2 Engine: " + car2.engine.type);
        System.out.println("Same Engine Object? " + (car1.engine == car2.engine));
    }
}

Take Your Shot

Predicted Output

Type exactly what you think will be printed in the console.