Difference between the System.Array.CopyTo and System.Array.Clone

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Difference between the System.Array.CopyTo() and System.Array.Clone in DotNet Framework

Lokendra Singh · Answer

Here's a comparison between System.Array.CopyTo() and System.Array.Clone() in .NET Framework: Aspect Array.CopyTo() Array.Clone() Purpose Copies elements from source array to destination array Creates a shallow copy of the entire array Return Type void (no return value) object (returns new array object) Target Array Requires existing destination array Creates new array automatically Memory Allocation Uses existing array memory Allocates new memory for cloned array Syntax sourceArray.CopyTo(destArray, startIndex) (int[])sourceArray.Clone() Parameters Destination array and starting index No parameters required Flexibility Can copy to specific position in destination Always copies entire array from beginning Array Size Destination can be larger than source Clone has same size as original Type Casting No casting needed Requires casting to specific array type Copy Type Shallow copy Shallow copy Performance Slightly faster (no allocation overhead) Slightly slower (allocation overhead) Exception Handling Throws if destination is too small Throws OutOfMemoryException if insufficient memory Use Case When you have existing array to fill When you need complete duplicate array Example: int[] source = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; int[] destination = new int[10]; source.CopyTo(destination, 2); // Copies to index 2-6 int[] source = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; int[] cloned = (int[])source.Clone(); // Creates new array [1,2,3,4,5] Both methods perform shallow copying, meaning for reference types, only references are copied, not the actual objects they point to.

Muhammad Imran Ansari · Answer

Array.Clone() Creates a shallow copy of the entire array. Returns a new array with the same elements. Clone() creates a new array, so changes to cloned don't affect original . int[] original = { 1, 2, 3 }; int[] cloned = (int[])original.Clone(); cloned[0] = 100; Console.WriteLine(original[0]); // Output: 1 Console.WriteLine(cloned[0]); // Output: 100 Array.CopyTo() Copies elements into an existing array starting at a specific index. You must create the target array first . CopyTo() requires an existing array to copy into. int[] original = { 1, 2, 3 }; int[] target = new int[3]; original.CopyTo(target, 0); target[0] = 100; Console.WriteLine(original[0]); // Output: 1 Console.WriteLine(target[0]); // Output: 100 Good Luck!

Difference between the System.Array.CopyTo and System.Array.Clone

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