On references and copy constructors

[guest_user]

If I have a private member reference to an object in my class, do I have to override the copy constructor such that when it is invoked, the object itself is copied and not the reference?

[Norm]

I don't think Java has a copy constructor. Copies are made by using the Object class's clone method.

[Fubarable]

And regardless, you can't override a constructor since they are not "virtual" while non-static methods are.

[Tolls]

I don't think Java has a copy constructor. Copies are made by using the Object class's clone method.

It does have the concept, since it is after all simply a constructor that takes an object of the same class as a parameter and copies the data.

To the OP, you would need to copy the child objects as well.
This means they would need to be either Cloneable or themselves have valid copy constructors.

This is the difference between a shallow copy (which simply copies the values as is) and a deep copy.

Though I would suggest you really think through what you're doing and ensure you do need to be copying.

[JosAH]

If I have a private member reference to an object in my class, do I have to override the copy constructor such that when it is invoked, the object itself is copied and not the reference?

The fact 'private' counts on a class basis; you can do this:

public class T {
   private U yourPrivateObject;
   public T(T t) { // copy ctor
      this.yourPrivateObject= // copy of t.privateObject;
   }
}

It's up to you how to copy the private object u.

kind regards,

Jos