I'm trying to create a deep copy function for an object in Java, but I want it to be generic so that it can work for any object, not just a specific class. My current implementation uses serialization to create the deep copy, but it feels hacky and inelegant:

public static <T> T deepCopy(T object) {
    
        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
        oos.writeObject(object);

        ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(baos.toByteArray());
        ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(bais);
        return (T) ois.readObject();
}

Is there a more straightforward way to implement a deep copy function in Java that is both efficient and flexible?

CodePudding user response：

No, there is not. Deep serialization is as good and general as it gets.

(Ideally, code designed using good immutability practices shouldn't need shallow or deep copies.)