C# – How to clone a range of array elements to a new array

arrayscclonedeep-copynet

I have an array X of 10 elements. I would like to create a new array containing all the elements from X that begin at index 3 and ends in index 7. Sure I can easily write a loop that will do it for me but I would like to keep my code as clean as possible. Is there a method in C# that can do it for me?

Something like (pseudo code):

Array NewArray = oldArray.createNewArrayFromRange(int BeginIndex , int EndIndex)

Array.Copy doesn't fit my needs. I need the items in the new array to be clones. Array.copy is just a C-Style memcpy equivalent, it's not what I'm looking for.

Best Answer

You could add it as an extension method:

public static T[] SubArray<T>(this T[] data, int index, int length)
{
    T[] result = new T[length];
    Array.Copy(data, index, result, 0, length);
    return result;
}
static void Main()
{
    int[] data = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
    int[] sub = data.SubArray(3, 4); // contains {3,4,5,6}
}

Update re cloning (which wasn't obvious in the original question). If you really want a deep clone; something like:

public static T[] SubArrayDeepClone<T>(this T[] data, int index, int length)
{
    T[] arrCopy = new T[length];
    Array.Copy(data, index, arrCopy, 0, length);
    using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
        var bf = new BinaryFormatter();
        bf.Serialize(ms, arrCopy);
        ms.Position = 0;
        return (T[])bf.Deserialize(ms);
    }
}

This does require the objects to be serializable ([Serializable] or ISerializable), though. You could easily substitute for any other serializer as appropriate - XmlSerializer, DataContractSerializer, protobuf-net, etc.

Note that deep clone is tricky without serialization; in particular, ICloneable is hard to trust in most cases.

Native deep cloning

It's called "structured cloning", works experimentally in Node 11 and later, and hopefully will land in browsers. See this answer for more details.

Fast cloning with data loss - JSON.parse/stringify

If you do not use Dates, functions, undefined, Infinity, RegExps, Maps, Sets, Blobs, FileLists, ImageDatas, sparse Arrays, Typed Arrays or other complex types within your object, a very simple one liner to deep clone an object is:

JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object))

const a = {
  string: 'string',
  number: 123,
  bool: false,
  nul: null,
  date: new Date(),  // stringified
  undef: undefined,  // lost
  inf: Infinity,  // forced to 'null'
  re: /.*/,  // lost
}
console.log(a);
console.log(typeof a.date);  // Date object
const clone = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a));
console.log(clone);
console.log(typeof clone.date);  // result of .toISOString()

See Corban's answer for benchmarks.

Reliable cloning using a library

Since cloning objects is not trivial (complex types, circular references, function etc.), most major libraries provide function to clone objects. Don't reinvent the wheel - if you're already using a library, check if it has an object cloning function. For example,

lodash - cloneDeep; can be imported separately via the lodash.clonedeep module and is probably your best choice if you're not already using a library that provides a deep cloning function
AngularJS - angular.copy
jQuery - jQuery.extend(true, { }, oldObject); .clone() only clones DOM elements
just library - just-clone; Part of a library of zero-dependency npm modules that do just do one thing. Guilt-free utilities for every occasion.

ES6 (shallow copy)

For completeness, note that ES6 offers two shallow copy mechanisms: Object.assign() and the spread syntax. which copies values of all enumerable own properties from one object to another. For example:

var A1 = {a: "2"};
var A2 = Object.assign({}, A1);
var A3 = {...A1};  // Spread Syntax

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – How to enumerate an enum

Javascript – the most efficient way to deep clone an object in JavaScript

Native deep cloning

Fast cloning with data loss - JSON.parse/stringify

Reliable cloning using a library

ES6 (shallow copy)

Related Topic