How to make a copy of an object without using Object.clone()?

[Bruce Jin]

How to make a copy of an object without using Object.clone()?
Thanks!

[Simon Percivall]

If you can serialize it, there might be a way. I don't remember the details though. Otherwise, you out of luck.

[Hari Gangadharan]

Are you facing some technical issue in using clone or is this a Quiz kind of question?

[Bruce Jin]

Sometimes I need to save a copy of a object so that later I can compare the object with the saved one to see if anything has changed. I am thinking there maybe a simple way to make a copy of a object without implementing Clonable and override clone() in my class.
Thanks

[Gopi Balaji]

Originally posted by Bruce Jin:
Sometimes I need to save a copy of a object so that later I can compare the object with the saved one to see if anything has changed. I am thinking there maybe a simple way to make a copy of a object without implementing Clonable and override clone() in my class.
Thanks

Check out the Memento pattern in the GoF book.
Must add that it is not a simple solution (but worth the while considering it).
-GB.
[ February 04, 2003: Message edited by: Gopi Balaji ]

[Gregg Bolinger]

Another option is using the ObjectOutputStream to write the object to disk, then read it back in when you need to compare into a new object. Might be a performance issue though.