Deep copy on arraylist of objects

Question

I am trying to deep copy list of objects from a global arraylist and return all the objects in my return function as below

ArrayList<Objects> list = new ArrayList<Objects>();

public Objects copy() {
        Objects copied = new Objects();
        ArrayList<Objects > newList = new ArrayList<Objects>();
        for(Objects  objs : list){
            newList.add(objs);
        }
        for(int i=0; i<newList.size(); i++ ){
            copied = newList.get(i);
        }
        return copied;
    }

But this function only returns the very last element in the list. How do I make the function return all values? For eg if there are 3 objects in the global list my function should return all the 3 values.

Also I do not want my function return type to be an ArrayList<Objects> ie I dont want to return an ArrayList of Objects

Is this possible? If so what am I missing?

You want to return all 3 values, but you don't want to return an ArrayList<Objects>? If you return Objects it will only be one element. So what do you want to return? — ajb
– ajb, Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 2:23
A method can only return one thing. What's the reason you don't want to return a list? BTW here you are doing a shallow copy. A deep copy creates new objects. — Radiodef
– Radiodef, Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 2:28
You simply return the last because you iterate over the entire list and always store the current item in copied. — willeM_ Van Onsem
– willeM_ Van Onsem, Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 2:34
That's not making a "deep copy". All it is is a very expensive way to retrieve the last element of the source list. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 2:37

jeremyjjbrown · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-22 02:34:14Z

1

Why not just use the Apache Commons Lang SerializationUtils clone()?

answered Feb 22, 2014 at 2:34

jeremyjjbrown

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