How to Deep Clone an Array in JavaScript

There are 2 types of array cloning: shallow & deep. Shallow copies only cover the 1st level of the array and the rest are referenced. If you want a true copy of nested arrays, you’ll need a deep clone. For deep clones, go with the JSON way OR better yet use Lodash 👍

In order to understand why there are two types of cloning. Let’s dig into the fundamentals and explains what are reference types.

Unlike your primitive types (ie. number or string), arrays are reference types. Which means when you assign an array to a variable, you’re assigning a memory address and not the actual array itself. WTH 😱. I know this is a bit confusing. So let’s explain with an example.

So no biggie here. We’re creating a copy of value. And if we change the valueCopy, it doesn't affect the original value. Makes sense - when we change the copy it shouldn't affect the original at all. All good here 👍

Okay, things are about to get weird now. Let’s copy our array using the same method as we did to copy a value type.

Why did the original array also got affected? That’s because what you copied over is not the array itself but the pointer to the memory space the array occupies. Reference types don’t hold values, they are a pointer…

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