What is the most efficient way to deep clone an object in JavaScript?

Question

What is the most efficient way to clone a JavaScript object? I've seen obj = eval(uneval(o)); being used, but that's non-standard and only supported by Firefox.

I've done things like obj = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(o)); but question the efficiency.

I've also seen recursive copying functions with various flaws.
I'm surprised no canonical solution exists.

Answer 1

Structured Cloning

const clone = structuredClone(original);

Modern browsers and runtimes provide a structuredClone global function, exposing the HTML standard's previously-internal structured cloning/serialization algorithm for creating deep clones of objects. It's still limited to certain built-in types, but in addition to the few types supported by JSON it supports Dates, RegExps, Maps, Sets, Blobs, FileLists, ImageDatas, sparse Arrays, Typed Arrays, and probably more in the future. It also preserves references within the cloned data, allowing it to support cyclical and recursive structures that would cause errors for JSON.

In case you need to support older environments, the rest of this answer describes workarounds to use this capability before it was directly exposed.

Synchronous Node.js Workaround: Excellent! 😀

Node.js provides a rich interface for the structured serialization API in its v8 module. Cloning an object is as simple as:

const v8 = require('v8');

const structuredClone = obj => {
  return v8.deserialize(v8.serialize(obj));
};

Asynchronous Browser Workaround: Usable. 😕

The lowest-overhead way to create a structured clone with previous APIs is to post the data through one port of a MessageChannels. The other port will emit a message event with a structured clone of the attached .data. Unfortunately, listening for these events is necessarily asynchronous, and the synchronous alternatives are less practical.

class StructuredCloner {
  constructor() {
    this.pendingClones_ = new Map();
    this.nextKey_ = 0;
    
    const channel = new MessageChannel();
    this.inPort_ = channel.port1;
    this.outPort_ = channel.port2;
    
    this.outPort_.onmessage = ({data: {key, value}}) => {
      const resolve = this.pendingClones_.get(key);
      resolve(value);
      this.pendingClones_.delete(key);
    };
    this.outPort_.start();
  }

  cloneAsync(value) {
    return new Promise(resolve => {
      const key = this.nextKey_++;
      this.pendingClones_.set(key, resolve);
      this.inPort_.postMessage({key, value});
    });
  }
}

const structuredCloneAsync = window.structuredCloneAsync =
    StructuredCloner.prototype.cloneAsync.bind(new StructuredCloner);

Example Use:

const main = async () => {
  const original = { date: new Date(), number: Math.random() };
  original.self = original;

  const clone = await structuredCloneAsync(original);

  // They're different objects:
  console.assert(original !== clone);
  console.assert(original.date !== clone.date);

  // They're cyclical:
  console.assert(original.self === original);
  console.assert(clone.self === clone);

  // They contain equivalent values:
  console.assert(original.number === clone.number);
  console.assert(Number(original.date) === Number(clone.date));
  
  console.log("Assertions complete.");
};

main();

Synchronous Browser Workarounds: Awful! 🤢

There are no good options for creating structured clones synchronously. Here are a couple of impractical hacks instead.

history.pushState() and history.replaceState() both create a structured clone of their first argument, and assign that value to history.state. You can use this to create a structured clone of any object like this:

const structuredClone = obj => {
  const oldState = history.state;
  history.replaceState(obj, null);
  const clonedObj = history.state;
  history.replaceState(oldState, null);
  return clonedObj;
};

Example Use:

'use strict';

const main = () => {
  const original = { date: new Date(), number: Math.random() };
  original.self = original;

  const clone = structuredClone(original);
  
  // They're different objects:
  console.assert(original !== clone);
  console.assert(original.date !== clone.date);

  // They're cyclical:
  console.assert(original.self === original);
  console.assert(clone.self === clone);

  // They contain equivalent values:
  console.assert(original.number === clone.number);
  console.assert(Number(original.date) === Number(clone.date));
  
  console.log("Assertions complete.");
};

const structuredClone = obj => {
  const oldState = history.state;
  history.replaceState(obj, null);
  const clonedObj = history.state;
  history.replaceState(oldState, null);
  return clonedObj;
};

main();

Though synchronous, this can be extremely slow. It incurs all of the overhead associated with manipulating the browser history. Calling this method repeatedly can cause Chrome to become temporarily unresponsive.

The Notification constructor creates a structured clone of its associated data. It also attempts to display a browser notification to the user, but this will silently fail unless you have requested notification permission. In case you have the permission for other purposes, we'll immediately close the notification we've created.

const structuredClone = obj => {
  const n = new Notification('', {data: obj, silent: true});
  n.onshow = n.close.bind(n);
  return n.data;
};

Example Use:

'use strict';

const main = () => {
  const original = { date: new Date(), number: Math.random() };
  original.self = original;

  const clone = structuredClone(original);
  
  // They're different objects:
  console.assert(original !== clone);
  console.assert(original.date !== clone.date);

  // They're cyclical:
  console.assert(original.self === original);
  console.assert(clone.self === clone);

  // They contain equivalent values:
  console.assert(original.number === clone.number);
  console.assert(Number(original.date) === Number(clone.date));
  
  console.log("Assertions complete.");
};

const structuredClone = obj => {
  const n = new Notification('', {data: obj, silent: true});
  n.close();
  return n.data;
};

main();

Answer 2

Native deep cloning

There's now a structuredClone(value) function supported in all major browsers and node >= 17. It has polyfills for older systems.

structuredClone(value)

If needed, loading the polyfill first:

import structuredClone from '@ungap/structured-clone';

See this answer for more details, but note these limitations:

• Function objects cannot be duplicated by the structured clone algorithm; attempting to throws a DataCloneError exception.
• Cloning DOM nodes likewise throws a DataCloneError exception.
• Certain object properties are not preserved:
  • The lastIndex property of RegExp objects is not preserved.
  • Property descriptors, setters, getters, and similar metadata-like features are not duplicated. For example, if an object is marked readonly with a property descriptor, it will be read/write in the duplicate, since that's the default.
  • The prototype chain is not walked or duplicated.

Older answers

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
• Ramda - clone
• 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.

Answer 3

Deep copy by performance:

Ranked from best to worst, based on benchmarks
https://www.measurethat.net/Benchmarks/Show/17502/0/deep-copy-comparison

• spread operator ... (primitive arrays - only)
• slice() (primitive arrays - only)
• splice(0) (primitive arrays - only)
• concat() (primitive arrays - only)
• JSON.parse(JSON.stringify()) (primitive and literal arrays - only)
• custom function, as seen below (any array)
• Lodash's _.cloneDeep() (any array)
• jQuery's $.extend() (any array)
• Underscore's _.clone() (primitive and literal arrays - only)

Where:

• primitives = strings, numbers, and booleans
• literals = object literals {}, array literals []
• any = primitives, literals, and prototypes

Deep copy an array of primitives:

let arr1a = [1, 'a', true];

To deep copy arrays with primitives only (i.e. numbers, strings, and booleans), reassignment, slice(), concat(), and Underscore's clone() can be used.

Where spread has the fastest performance:

let arr1b = [...arr1a];

And where slice() has better performance than splice(0) and concat()

let arr1d = arr1a.slice();
let arr1c = arr1a.splice(0);
let arr1e = arr1a.concat();

Deep copy an array of primitive and object literals:

let arr2a = [1, 'a', true, {}, []];
let arr2b = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(arr2a));

Deep copy an array of primitive, object literals, and prototypes:

let arr3a = [1, 'a', true, {}, [], new Object()];

Write a custom function (has faster performance than jQuery $.extend()):

function copy(aObject) {
  // Prevent undefined objects
  // if (!aObject) return aObject;

  let bObject = Array.isArray(aObject) ? [] : {};

  let value;
  for (const key in aObject) {

    // Prevent self-references to parent object
    // if (Object.is(aObject[key], aObject)) continue;
    
    value = aObject[key];

    bObject[key] = (typeof value === "object") ? copy(value) : value;
  }

  return bObject;
}

let arr3b = copy(arr3a);

Or use third-party utility functions:

let arr3c = $.extend(true, [], arr3a); // jQuery
let arr3d = _.cloneDeep(arr3a); // Lodash

Answer 4

Assuming that you have only properties and not any functions in your object, you can just use:

var newObject = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(oldObject));

Answer 5

Cloning an object using today's JavaScript: ECMAScript 2015 (formerly known as ECMAScript 6)

var original = {a: 1};

// Method 1: New object with original assigned.
var copy1 = Object.assign({}, original);

// Method 2: New object with spread operator assignment.
var copy2 = {...original};

Old browsers may not support ECMAScript 2015. A common solution is to use a JavaScript-to-JavaScript compiler like Babel to output an ECMAScript 5 version of your JavaScript code.

As pointed out by @jim-hall, this is only a shallow copy. Properties of properties are copied as a reference: changing one would change the value in the other object/instance.

Answer 6

As recursion is just too expensive for JavaScript, and most answers I have found are using recursion, while JSON approach will skip the non-JSON-convertible parts (Function, etc.). So I did a little research and found this trampoline technique to avoid it. Here's the code:

/*
 * Trampoline to avoid recursion in JavaScript, see:
 *     https://www.integralist.co.uk/posts/functional-recursive-javascript-programming/
 */
function trampoline() {
    var func = arguments[0];
    var args = [];
    for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) {
        args[i - 1] = arguments[i];
    }

    var currentBatch = func.apply(this, args);
    var nextBatch = [];

    while (currentBatch && currentBatch.length > 0) {
        currentBatch.forEach(function(eachFunc) {
            var ret = eachFunc();
            if (ret && ret.length > 0) {
                nextBatch = nextBatch.concat(ret);
            }
        });

        currentBatch = nextBatch;
        nextBatch = [];
    }
};

/*
 *  Deep clone an object using the trampoline technique.
 *
 *  @param target {Object} Object to clone
 *  @return {Object} Cloned object.
 */
function clone(target) {
    if (typeof target !== 'object') {
        return target;
    }
    if (target == null || Object.keys(target).length == 0) {
        return target;
    }

    function _clone(b, a) {
        var nextBatch = [];
        for (var key in b) {
            if (typeof b[key] === 'object' && b[key] !== null) {
                if (b[key] instanceof Array) {
                    a[key] = [];
                }
                else {
                    a[key] = {};
                }
                nextBatch.push(_clone.bind(null, b[key], a[key]));
            }
            else {
                a[key] = b[key];
            }
        }
        return nextBatch;
    };

    var ret = target instanceof Array ? [] : {};
    (trampoline.bind(null, _clone))(target, ret);
    return ret;
};

Answer 7

Only when you can use ECMAScript 6 or transpilers.

Features:

• Won't trigger getter/setter while copying.
• Preserves getter/setter.
• Preserves prototype informations.
• Works with both object-literal and functional OO writing styles.

Code:

function clone(target, source){

    for(let key in source){

        // Use getOwnPropertyDescriptor instead of source[key] to prevent from trigering setter/getter.
        let descriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(source, key);
        if(descriptor.value instanceof String){
            target[key] = new String(descriptor.value);
        }
        else if(descriptor.value instanceof Array){
            target[key] = clone([], descriptor.value);
        }
        else if(descriptor.value instanceof Object){
            let prototype = Reflect.getPrototypeOf(descriptor.value);
            let cloneObject = clone({}, descriptor.value);
            Reflect.setPrototypeOf(cloneObject, prototype);
            target[key] = cloneObject;
        }
        else {
            Object.defineProperty(target, key, descriptor);
        }
    }
    let prototype = Reflect.getPrototypeOf(source);
    Reflect.setPrototypeOf(target, prototype);
    return target;
}

Answer 8

Shallow copy one-liner (ECMAScript 5th edition):

var origin = { foo : {} };
var copy = Object.keys(origin).reduce(function(c,k){c[k]=origin[k];return c;},{});

console.log(origin, copy);
console.log(origin == copy); // false
console.log(origin.foo == copy.foo); // true

And shallow copy one-liner (ECMAScript 6th edition, 2015):

var origin = { foo : {} };
var copy = Object.assign({}, origin);

console.log(origin, copy);
console.log(origin == copy); // false
console.log(origin.foo == copy.foo); // true

Answer 9

If you're using it, the Underscore.js library has a clone method.

var newObject = _.clone(oldObject);

Answer 10

Cloning an object was always a concern in JS, but it was all about before ES6, I list different ways of copying an object in JavaScript below, imagine you have the Object below and would like to have a deep copy of that:

var obj = {a:1, b:2, c:3, d:4};

There are few ways to copy this object, without changing the origin:

1. ES5+, Using a simple function to do the copy for you:

   function deepCopyObj(obj) {
       if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
       if (obj instanceof Date) {
           var copy = new Date();
           copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
           return copy;
       }
       if (obj instanceof Array) {
           var copy = [];
           for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
               copy[i] = deepCopyObj(obj[i]);
           }
           return copy;
       }
       if (obj instanceof Object) {
           var copy = {};
           for (var attr in obj) {
               if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = deepCopyObj(obj[attr]);
           }
           return copy;
       }
       throw new Error("Unable to copy obj this object.");
   }
   

2. ES5+, using JSON.parse and JSON.stringify.

   var deepCopyObj = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
   

3. Angular:

   var deepCopyObj = angular.copy(obj);
   

4. jQuery:

   var deepCopyObj = jQuery.extend(true, {}, obj);
   

5. Underscore.js & Lodash:

   var deepCopyObj = _.cloneDeep(obj); //latest version of Underscore.js makes shallow copy
   

Hope these help…

Answer 11

I am late to answer this question, but I have an another way of cloning the object:

function cloneObject(obj) {
    if (obj === null || typeof(obj) !== 'object')
        return obj;
    var temp = obj.constructor(); // changed
    for (var key in obj) {
        if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, key)) {
            obj['isActiveClone'] = null;
            temp[key] = cloneObject(obj[key]);
            delete obj['isActiveClone'];
        }
    }
    return temp;
}

var b = cloneObject({"a":1,"b":2});   // calling

which is much better and faster then:

var a = {"a":1,"b":2};
var b = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a));  

and

var a = {"a":1,"b":2};

// Deep copy
var newObject = jQuery.extend(true, {}, a);

I have bench-marked the code and you can test the results here:

and sharing the results: References: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/hasOwnProperty

Answer 12

For the people who want to use the JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj)) version, but without losing the Date objects, you can use the second argument of parse method to convert the strings back to Date:

function clone(obj) {
  var regExp = /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}\.\d{3}Z$/;
  return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj), function(k, v) {
    if (typeof v === 'string' && regExp.test(v))
      return new Date(v)
    return v;
  })
}

// usage:
var original = {
 a: [1, null, undefined, 0, {a:null}, new Date()],
 b: {
   c(){ return 0 }
 }
}

var cloned = clone(original)

console.log(cloned)

Answer 13

Deep copying objects in JavaScript (I think the best and the simplest)

1. Using JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object));

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: { 
    c: 2
  }
}
var newObj = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
obj.b.c = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 2 } } 

2.Using created method

function cloneObject(obj) {
    var clone = {};
    for(var i in obj) {
        if(obj[i] != null &&  typeof(obj[i])=="object")
            clone[i] = cloneObject(obj[i]);
        else
            clone[i] = obj[i];
    }
    return clone;
}

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: { 
    c: 2
  }
}
var newObj = cloneObject(obj);
obj.b.c = 20;

console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 2 } } 

3. Using Lo-Dash's _.cloneDeep link lodash

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: { 
    c: 2
  }
}

var newObj = _.cloneDeep(obj);
obj.b.c = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 2 } } 

4. Using Object.assign() method

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: 2
}

var newObj = _.clone(obj);
obj.b = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: 20 }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: 2 }  

BUT WRONG WHEN

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: { 
    c: 2
  }
}

var newObj = Object.assign({}, obj);
obj.b.c = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } } --> WRONG
// Note: Properties on the prototype chain and non-enumerable properties cannot be copied.

5.Using Underscore.js _.clone link Underscore.js

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: 2
}

var newObj = _.clone(obj);
obj.b = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: 20 }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: 2 }  

BUT WRONG WHEN

var obj = { 
  a: 1,
  b: { 
    c: 2
  }
}

var newObj = _.cloneDeep(obj);
obj.b.c = 20;
console.log(obj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } }
console.log(newObj); // { a: 1, b: { c: 20 } } --> WRONG
// (Create a shallow-copied clone of the provided plain object. Any nested objects or arrays will be copied by reference, not duplicated.)

JSBEN.CH Performance Benchmarking Playground 1~3 http://jsben.ch/KVQLd

Answer 14

Checkout this benchmark: http://jsben.ch/#/bWfk9

In my previous tests where speed was a main concern I found

JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj))

to be the slowest way to deep clone an object (it is slower than jQuery.extend with deep flag set true by 10-20%).

jQuery.extend is pretty fast when the deep flag is set to false (shallow clone). It is a good option, because it includes some extra logic for type validation and doesn't copy over undefined properties, etc., but this will also slow you down a little.

If you know the structure of the objects you are trying to clone or can avoid deep nested arrays you can write a simple for (var i in obj) loop to clone your object while checking hasOwnProperty and it will be much much faster than jQuery.

Lastly if you are attempting to clone a known object structure in a hot loop you can get MUCH MUCH MORE PERFORMANCE by simply in-lining the clone procedure and manually constructing the object.

JavaScript trace engines suck at optimizing for..in loops and checking hasOwnProperty will slow you down as well. Manual clone when speed is an absolute must.

var clonedObject = {
  knownProp: obj.knownProp,
  ..
}

Beware using the JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj)) method on Date objects - JSON.stringify(new Date()) returns a string representation of the date in ISO format, which JSON.parse() doesn't convert back to a Date object. See this answer for more details.

Additionally, please note that, in Chrome 65 at least, native cloning is not the way to go. According to JSPerf, performing native cloning by creating a new function is nearly 800x slower than using JSON.stringify which is incredibly fast all the way across the board.

Update for ES6

If you are using Javascript ES6 try this native method for cloning or shallow copy.

Object.assign({}, obj);

Answer 15

This is my solution without using any library or native javascript function.

function deepClone(obj) {
  if (typeof obj !== "object") {
    return obj;
  } else {
    let newObj =
      typeof obj === "object" && obj.length !== undefined ? [] : {};
    for (let key in obj) {
      if (key) {
        newObj[key] = deepClone(obj[key]);
      }
    }
    return newObj;
  }
}

Answer 16

Object.assign({},sourceObj) only clones the object if their property is not having reference type key. ex

obj={a:"lol",b:["yes","no","maybe"]}
clonedObj = Object.assign({},obj);

clonedObj.b.push("skip")// changes will reflected to the actual obj as well because of its reference type.
obj.b //will also console => yes,no,maybe,skip

So for the deep cloning is not possible to achieve in this way.

The best solution that works is

var obj = Json.stringify(yourSourceObj)
var cloned = Json.parse(obj);

Answer 17

My scenario was a bit different. I had an object with nested objects as well as functions. Therefore, Object.assign() and JSON.stringify() were not solutions to my problem. Using third-party libraries was not an option for me neither.

Hence, I decided to make a simple function to use built-in methods to copy an object with its literal properties, its nested objects, and functions.

let deepCopy = (target, source) => {
    Object.assign(target, source);
    // check if there's any nested objects
    Object.keys(source).forEach((prop) => {
        /**
          * assign function copies functions and
          * literals (int, strings, etc...)
          * except for objects and arrays, so:
          */
        if (typeof(source[prop]) === 'object') {
            // check if the item is, in fact, an array
            if (Array.isArray(source[prop])) {
                // clear the copied referenece of nested array
                target[prop] = Array();
                // iterate array's item and copy over
                source[prop].forEach((item, index) => {
                    // array's items could be objects too!
                    if (typeof(item) === 'object') {
                        // clear the copied referenece of nested objects
                        target[prop][index] = Object();
                        // and re do the process for nested objects
                        deepCopy(target[prop][index], item);
                    } else {
                        target[prop].push(item);
                    }
                });
            // otherwise, treat it as an object
            } else {
                // clear the copied referenece of nested objects
                target[prop] = Object();
                // and re do the process for nested objects
                deepCopy(target[prop], source[prop]);
            }
        }
    });
};

Here's a test code:

let a = {
    name: 'Human', 
    func: () => {
        console.log('Hi!');
    }, 
    prop: {
        age: 21, 
        info: {
            hasShirt: true, 
            hasHat: false
        }
    },
    mark: [89, 92, { exam: [1, 2, 3] }]
};

let b = Object();

deepCopy(b, a);

a.name = 'Alien';
a.func = () => { console.log('Wassup!'); };
a.prop.age = 1024;
a.prop.info.hasShirt = false;
a.mark[0] = 87;
a.mark[1] = 91;
a.mark[2].exam = [4, 5, 6];

console.log(a); // updated props
console.log(b);

For efficiency-related concerns, I believe this is the simplest and most efficient solution to the problem I had. I would appreciate any comments on this algorithm that could make it more efficient.

Answer 18

With the proposal of the new method Object.fromEntries() that is supported on newer versions of some browsers (reference). I want to contribute with the next recursive approach:

const obj = {
  key1: {key11: "key11", key12: "key12", key13: {key131: 22}},
  key2: {key21: "key21", key22: "key22"},
  key3: "key3",
  key4: [1,2,3, {key: "value"}]
}

const cloneObj = (obj) =>
{
    if (Object(obj) !== obj)
       return obj;
    else if (Array.isArray(obj))
       return obj.map(cloneObj);

    return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(obj).map(
        ([k,v]) => ([k, cloneObj(v)])
    ));
}

// Clone the original object.
let newObj = cloneObj(obj);

// Make changes on the original object.
obj.key1.key11 = "TEST";
obj.key3 = "TEST";
obj.key1.key13.key131 = "TEST";
obj.key4[1] = "TEST";
obj.key4[3].key = "TEST";

// Display both objects on the console.
console.log("Original object: ", obj);
console.log("Cloned object: ", newObj);

.as-console {background-color:black !important; color:lime;}
.as-console-wrapper {max-height:100% !important; top:0;}

Answer 19

How about merging the keys of the object with its values?

function deepClone(o) {
    var keys = Object.keys(o);
    var values = Object.values(o);

    var clone = {};

    keys.forEach(function(key, i) {
        clone[key] = typeof values[i] == 'object' ? Object.create(values[i]) : values[i];
    });

    return clone;
}

Note: This method doesn't necessarily make shallow copies, but it only copies with the depth of one inner-object, meaning that when you are given something like {a: {b: {c: null}}}, it will only clone the objects that are directly inside of them, so deepClone(a.b).c is technically a reference to a.b.c, while deepClone(a).b is a clone, not a reference.

Answer 20

function clone(obj) {
    var copy;

    // Handle the 3 simple types, and null or undefined
    if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;

    // Handle Date
    if (obj instanceof Date) {
        copy = new Date();
        copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
        return copy;
    }

    // Handle Array
    if (obj instanceof Array) {
        copy = [];
        for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
            copy[i] = clone(obj[i]);
        }
        return copy;
    }

    // Handle Object
    if (obj instanceof Object) {
        copy = {};
        for (var attr in obj) {
            if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = clone(obj[attr]);
        }
        return copy;
    }

    throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}

use the following method instead of JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj)) because it is slower than the following method

How do I correctly clone a JavaScript object?

Answer 21

In JavaScript, you can write your deepCopy method like

function deepCopy(src) {
  let target = Array.isArray(src) ? [] : {};
  for (let prop in src) {
    let value = src[prop];
    if(value && typeof value === 'object') {
      target[prop] = deepCopy(value);
  } else {
      target[prop] = value;
  }
 }
    return target;
}

Answer 22

if you find yourself doing this type of thing regular ( eg- creating undo redo functionality ) it might be worth looking into Immutable.js

const map1 = Immutable.fromJS( { a: 1, b: 2, c: { d: 3 } } );
const map2 = map1.setIn( [ 'c', 'd' ], 50 );

console.log( `${ map1.getIn( [ 'c', 'd' ] ) } vs ${ map2.getIn( [ 'c', 'd' ] ) }` ); // "3 vs 50"

https://codepen.io/anon/pen/OBpqNE?editors=1111

Answer 23

If there wasn't any builtin one, you could try:

function clone(obj) {
    if (obj === null || typeof (obj) !== 'object' || 'isActiveClone' in obj)
        return obj;

    if (obj instanceof Date)
        var temp = new obj.constructor(); //or new Date(obj);
    else
        var temp = obj.constructor();

    for (var key in obj) {
        if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, key)) {
            obj['isActiveClone'] = null;
            temp[key] = clone(obj[key]);
            delete obj['isActiveClone'];
        }
    }
    return temp;
}

Answer 24

When your object is nested and it contains data object, other structured object or some property object, etc then using JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object)) or Object.assign({}, obj) or $.extend(true, {}, obj) will not work. In that case use lodash. It is simple and easy..

var obj = {a: 25, b: {a: 1, b: 2}, c: new Date(), d: anotherNestedObject };
var A = _.cloneDeep(obj);

Now A will be your new cloned of obj without any references..

Answer 25

Hope this helps.

function deepClone(obj) {
    /*
     * Duplicates an object 
     */

    var ret = null;
    if (obj !== Object(obj)) { // primitive types
        return obj;
    }
    if (obj instanceof String || obj instanceof Number || obj instanceof Boolean) { // string objecs
        ret = obj; // for ex: obj = new String("Spidergap")
    } else if (obj instanceof Date) { // date
        ret = new obj.constructor();
    } else
        ret = Object.create(obj.constructor.prototype);

    var prop = null;
    var allProps = Object.getOwnPropertyNames(obj); //gets non enumerables also


    var props = {};
    for (var i in allProps) {
        prop = allProps[i];
        props[prop] = false;
    }

    for (i in obj) {
        props[i] = i;
    }

    //now props contain both enums and non enums 
    var propDescriptor = null;
    var newPropVal = null; // value of the property in new object
    for (i in props) {
        prop = obj[i];
        propDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(obj, i);

        if (Array.isArray(prop)) { //not backward compatible
            prop = prop.slice(); // to copy the array
        } else
        if (prop instanceof Date == true) {
            prop = new prop.constructor();
        } else
        if (prop instanceof Object == true) {
            if (prop instanceof Function == true) { // function
                if (!Function.prototype.clone) {
                    Function.prototype.clone = function() {
                        var that = this;
                        var temp = function tmp() {
                            return that.apply(this, arguments);
                        };
                        for (var ky in this) {
                            temp[ky] = this[ky];
                        }
                        return temp;
                    }
                }
                prop = prop.clone();

            } else // normal object 
            {
                prop = deepClone(prop);
            }

        }

        newPropVal = {
            value: prop
        };
        if (propDescriptor) {
            /*
             * If property descriptors are there, they must be copied
             */
            newPropVal.enumerable = propDescriptor.enumerable;
            newPropVal.writable = propDescriptor.writable;

        }
        if (!ret.hasOwnProperty(i)) // when String or other predefined objects
            Object.defineProperty(ret, i, newPropVal); // non enumerable

    }
    return ret;
}

https://github.com/jinujd/Javascript-Deep-Clone

Answer 26

For a shallow copy there is a great, simple method introduced in ECMAScript2018 standard. It involves the use of Spread Operator :

let obj = {a : "foo", b:"bar" , c:10 , d:true , e:[1,2,3] };

let objClone = { ...obj };

I have tested it in Chrome browser, both objects are stored in different locations, so changing immediate child values in either will not change the other. Though (in the example) changing a value in e will effect both copies.

This technique is very simple and straight forward. I consider this a true Best Practice for this question once and for all.

Answer 27

In my experience, a recursive version vastly outperforms JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj)). Here is a modernized recursive deep object copy function which can fit on a single line:

function deepCopy(obj) {
  return Object.keys(obj).reduce((v, d) => Object.assign(v, {
    [d]: (obj[d].constructor === Object) ? deepCopy(obj[d]) : obj[d]
  }), {});
}

This is performing around 40 times faster than the JSON.parse... method.

Answer 28

ES 2017 example:

let objectToCopy = someObj;
let copyOfObject = {};
Object.defineProperties(copyOfObject, Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(objectToCopy));
// copyOfObject will now be the same as objectToCopy

Answer 29

Looking through this long list of answers nearly all the solutions have been covered except one that I am aware of. This is the list of VANILLA JS ways of deep cloning an object.

1. JSON.parse(JSON.stringify( obj ) );

2. Through history.state with pushState or replaceState

3. Web Notifications API but this has the downside of asking the user for permissions.

4. Doing your own recursive loop through the object to copy each level.

5. The answer I didn't see -> Using ServiceWorkers. The messages (objects) passed back and forth between the page and the ServiceWorker script will be deep clones of any object.

Answer 30

What about asynchronous object cloning done by a Promise?

async function clone(thingy /**/)
{
    if(thingy instanceof Promise)
    {
        throw Error("This function cannot clone Promises.");
    }
    return thingy;
}