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Attack of the clones

Time and space considerations in four different approaches to implementing deep clone() methods

By Vladimir Roubtsov, JavaWorld.com, 01/24/03

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Page 7 of 7

>java -Xmx8m Main
clone implementation: Object.clone()
count = 5978 Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
...
clone implementation: copy construction
count = 5978
...
clone implementation: serialization
count = 747
...
clone implementation: reflection
count = 5952


Approach 3's overhead increases with the number of immutable fields in a class. Removing this overhead is nontrivial.

The recap

The following table recaps the properties of all cloning approaches in this article from several perspectives: speed, resource utilization, class design constraints, object graph handling.

Object.clone()
Speed High
Resource utilization Low
Class design constraints Does not work with deep final fields; does not work with inner classes; must implement Cloneable; medium amount of manual class maintenance
Object graphs Does not handle object graphs transparently
Copy construction
Speed High
Resource utilization Low
Class design constraints Superclasses and subclasses must cooperate; copy constructor required; a lot of manual class maintenance
Object graphs Does not handle object graphs transparently
Serialization
Speed Low
Resource utilization High; creates redundant immutable fields
Class design constraints Must implement Serializable; first non-Serializable class needs an accessible no-arg constuctor
Object graphs Handles object graphs
Reflection
Speed Medium
Resource utilization Medium
Class design constraints Does not work with final fields; does not work with inner classes; each class must provide no-arg constructor
Object graphs Handles object graphs


This article discussed implementing a single method, Object.clone(). It is amazing that a single method can have so many implementation choices and subtle points. I hope this article provided you with some food for thought and useful guidelines for your application class design.

About the author

Vladimir Roubtsov has programmed in a variety of languages for more than 12 years, including Java since 1995. Currently, he develops enterprise software as a senior developer for Trilogy in Austin, Texas.
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