Copying objects

Question

Hi!
How can I make a copy of an object? I've posted this problem yet another time, but the answers didn't work...
I only want to copy an array x into an array y and the possibility to change x without changing y at the same time (=> without referencing):
source:
int x[]={1,2,3,4,5};
int y[]= new int[5];
y=x; //A
for (int i=0;i<5;i++) System.out.print(x); //1 2 3 4 5
for (int i=0;i<5;i++) System.out.print(y[i]); //1 2 3 4 5
x[0]=0; x[1]=0; x[2]=0; x[3]=0; x[4]=0; //C
for (int i=0;i<5;i++) System.out.print(x[i]); //0 0 0 0 0
for (int i=0;i<5;i++) System.out.print(y[i]); //0 0 0 0 0
With this code, I get a reference for x in y (A), so when I change the values of x (C) the values of y are also changed.
How can I get a COPY of x into y? I've tried it with "int y[]=x", but this also doesn't work. By the way, the assignment should be in a loop, so initializing for copying isn't good...
Thanks! Chris

Answer 1

I think this might help you people. There is a concept called deep copy. This does not reference as you people have problem. This works on any object, but The only requirement is that the object in question should be serializable.. As for as any object[] (arrays) take each object from the array and deep copy it and put in the new array.
// this is  a static method to make a deep copy of any object.
   public static Object deepCopy(Object oldObj) throws Exception
    ObjectOutputStream oos = null;
    ObjectInputStream ois = null;
      try
         ByteArrayOutputStream bos =
               new ByteArrayOutputStream(); // A
         oos = new ObjectOutputStream(bos); // B
         // serialize and pass the object
         oos.writeObject(oldObj);   // C
         oos.flush();               // D
         ByteArrayInputStream bin =
               new ByteArrayInputStream(bos.toByteArray()); // E
         ois = new ObjectInputStream(bin);                  // F
         // return the new object
         return ois.readObject(); // G
      catch(Exception e)
         System.out.println("Exception in ObjectCloner = " + e);
         throw(e);
      finally
         if(oos != null)
           oos.close();
        if(ois != null)
         ois.close();
}Enjoy coding in Java. Java never sucks.