How to deep Copy a List in C# - Step by Step Examples

How to deep Copy a List in C# ?

Answer

To deep copy a list in C#, you can use the `Select` method with a cloning function or a custom method to create a new list with cloned elements.

✐ Examples

1 Deep Copy a List of Integers

In this example,

We create a list named originalList with integer values.
We use the Select method with the ToList method to create a new list with the same elements.
The Select method is used to project each element of the list into a new form.
Finally, we print both lists to verify the deep copy.

C# Program

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        List<int> originalList = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
        List<int> deepCopiedList = originalList.Select(element => element).ToList();
        Console.WriteLine("Original List: " + string.Join(", ", originalList));
        Console.WriteLine("Deep Copied List: " + string.Join(", ", deepCopiedList));
    }
}

Output

Original List: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Deep Copied List: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

2 Deep Copy a List of Custom Objects

In this example,

We define a class named Person with properties Name and Age.
We create a list named originalList containing Person objects.
We use the Select method with a cloning function to create a new list with cloned Person objects.
The ToList method converts the result of Select back to a list.
Finally, we print both lists to verify the deep copy.

C# Program

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

class Person {
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public Person(string name, int age) {
        Name = name;
        Age = age;
    }
    public Person Clone() {
        return new Person(this.Name, this.Age);
    }
    public override string ToString() {
        return $"Person(Name: {Name}, Age: {Age})";
    }
}

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        List<Person> originalList = new List<Person> {
            new Person("Alice", 30),
            new Person("Bob", 25),
            new Person("Charlie", 35)
        };
        List<Person> deepCopiedList = originalList.Select(person => person.Clone()).ToList();
        Console.WriteLine("Original List: " + string.Join(", ", originalList));
        Console.WriteLine("Deep Copied List: " + string.Join(", ", deepCopiedList));
    }
}

Output

Original List: Person(Name: Alice, Age: 30), Person(Name: Bob, Age: 25), Person(Name: Charlie, Age: 35)
Deep Copied List: Person(Name: Alice, Age: 30), Person(Name: Bob, Age: 25), Person(Name: Charlie, Age: 35)

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned How to deep Copy a List in C# language with well detailed examples.

◀ Previous Next ▶

C# Tutorials

C# How-Tos

How to deep Copy a List in C# - Step by Step Examples

How to deep Copy a List in C# ?

Answer

✐ Examples

1 Deep Copy a List of Integers

C# Program

Output

2 Deep Copy a List of Custom Objects

C# Program

Output

Summary

More C# Lists Tutorials