Python list | copy() method

Sometimes, there is a need to reuse any object, hence copy methods are always of a great utility. Python in its language offers a number of ways to achieve this. This particular article aims at demonstrating the copy method present in list. Since list is widely used hence, its copy is also necessary.

Syntax : list.copy()

Parameters :
None

Returns :
Returns a shallow copy of a list.
Shallow copy means the any modification in new list won’t be reflected to original list

Code #1 : Demonstrating the working of list.copy()

# Python 3 code to demonstrate  
# working of list.copy() 
  
# Initializing list  
lis1 = [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ] 
  
# Using copy() to create a shallow copy 
lis2 = lis1.copy() 
  
# Printing new list  
print ("The new list created is : " + str(lis2)) 
  
# Adding new element to new list 
lis2.append(5) 
  
# Printing lists after adding new element 
# No change in old list 
print ("The new list after adding new element : " + str(lis2)) 
print ("The old list after adding new element to new list  : " + str(lis1)) 

Output:

The new list created is : [1, 2, 3, 4]
The new list after adding new element : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The old list after adding new element to new list  : [1, 2, 3, 4]

Deep Copy vs Shallow copy : An Analysis

Deep copy means if we modify any of the list, changes are reflected in both the list as they point to the same reference. Whereas in shallow copy, when we add element in any of the list, only that list is modified.
Techniques to deep copy :

Using copy.deepcopy()
Using “=” operator

Techniques to shallow copy :

Using copy.copy()
Using list.copy()
Using slicing

Code #2 : Demonstrating techniques of shallow and deep copy

# Python 3 code to demonstrate  
# techniques of deep and shallow copy 
import copy 
  
# Initializing list  
lis1 = [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ] 
  
# Using shallow copy techniques to create a shallow copy 
lis2 = lis1.copy() 
lis3 = copy.copy(lis1) 
lis4 = lis1[:] 
  
# Adding new element to new lists 
lis2.append(5) 
lis3.append(5) 
lis4.append(5) 
  
# Printing lists after adding new element 
# No change in old list 
print ("The new list created using copy.copy() : " + str(lis2)) 
print ("The new list created using list.copy() : " + str(lis3)) 
print ("The new list created using slicing : " + str(lis4)) 
print ("The old list after adding new element to new list  : " + str(lis1)) 
  
print ("\n") 
  
# Using deep copy techniques to create a deep copy 
lis2 = lis1 
lis3 = copy.deepcopy(lis1) 
  
# Adding new element to new lists 
lis2.append(5) 
lis3.append(5) 
  
  
# Printing lists after adding new element 
# changes reflected in old list 
print ("The new list created using copy.deepcopy() : " + str(lis2)) 
print ("The new list created using = : " + str(lis3)) 
print ("The old list after adding new element to new list  : " + str(lis1)) 

Output:

The new list created using copy.copy() : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The new list created using list.copy() : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The new list created using slicing : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The old list after adding new element to new list  : [1, 2, 3, 4]


The new list created using copy.deepcopy() : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The new list created using = : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The old list after adding new element to new list  : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

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