How to copy an array in Java

In Java, arrays cannot be copied using the = operator as the assignment operation would result in both variables pointing to the same array.

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However, Java allows us to copy the content of an array by various other methods.

Object.clone

Copying an array is one of the few situations where Object.clone is a good choice:

import java.util.*;
class ArrayCopy {
    public static void main( String args[] ) {
        int[] original = { 10, 20, 30 };
        int[] copy = original.clone();
        
        System.out.println("Original: " + Arrays.toString(original));
        System.out.println("Copy: " + Arrays.toString(copy));
    }
}

It works for object arrays, but note that it makes a shallow copy; i.e., the objects are not copied, only the references are. See Shallow vs. Deep Copy. If you need to make a deep copy, you have to create a copy constructor or resort to Object.clone (but read this first).

Here are some alternative ways to do a shallow copy…

System.arraycopy

The System.arraycopy method can be used to copy an array or a sub-array:

import java.util.*;
class ArrayCopy {
    public static void main( String args[] ) {
        int[] original = { 10, 20, 30 };
        int[] copy = new int[original.length];
        System.arraycopy(original, 0, copy, 0, original.length);
        
        System.out.println("Original: " + Arrays.toString(original));
        System.out.println("Copy: " + Arrays.toString(copy));
    }
}

Arrays.copy

import java.util.*;
class ArrayCopy {
    public static void main( String args[] ) {
        int[] original = { 10, 20, 30 };
        int[] copy = Arrays.copyOf(original, original.length);
        System.out.println("Original: " + Arrays.toString(original));
        System.out.println("Copy: " + Arrays.toString(copy));
    }
}

Commons Lang

In Apache Commons Lang, the ArrayUtils.clone method can be used to copy an array:

int[] copy = ArrayUtils.clone(original);

Stream API

The copy functionality is also present in the Stream API:

int[] copy = IntStream.of(original).toArray();

// Or, for reference types
String[] strs = Stream.of(original).toArray(String[]::new);

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