seniorObjective-C
What is the difference between shallow copy and deep copy in Objective-C?
Updated May 17, 2026
Short answer
Shallow copy duplicates references; deep copy duplicates entire object graph.
Deep explanation
In shallow copy, both objects point to same memory. In deep copy, new memory is allocated for nested objects. Objective-C uses NSCopying and NSMutableCopying protocols for this behavior.
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