In C++, arrays are a type of data structure that store multiple elements of the same data type. The elements in an array are stored in contiguous memory locations and can be accessed using an index. However, a common question that arises when working with arrays in C++ is whether the elements in an array are deeply copied or not.

A deep copy is a process of copying the values of an object to another object. In C++, when an array is assigned to another array, a shallow copy is performed. A shallow copy is the process of copying the reference to the original array to another array, rather than copying the elements of the array. As a result, any changes made to the elements of the copied array will affect the original array as well.

For example, consider the following code:

int originalArray[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
int shallowCopyArray[5];
shallowCopyArray = originalArray;
shallowCopyArray[2] = 10;

In C++, arrays are a type of data structure that store multiple elements of the same data type. The elements in an array are stored in contiguous memory locations and can be accessed using an index. However, a common question that arises when working with arrays in C++ is whether the elements in an array are deeply copied or not.

A deep copy is a process of copying the values of an object to another object. In C++, when an array is assigned to another array, a shallow copy is performed. A shallow copy is the process of copying the reference to the original array to another array, rather than copying the elements of the array. As a result, any changes made to the elements of the copied array will affect the original array as well.

For example, consider the following code:

In the code above, the array shallowCopyArray is assigned the value of originalArray. However, the shallowCopyArray is just a reference to the originalArray, and any changes made to shallowCopyArray will also be reflected in originalArray. Hence, if we print the values of originalArray, the value of the third element will be 10, not 3.

To perform a deep copy in C++, we can use the memcpy function. The memcpy function copies the elements of one array to another array, creating a new memory location for the copied array.

For example, consider the following code:

int originalArray[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
int deepCopyArray[5];
memcpy(deepCopyArray, originalArray, sizeof(originalArray));
deepCopyArray[2] = 10;

In the code above, the memcpy function is used to copy the elements of originalArray to deepCopyArray. Since deepCopyArray is a completely new memory location, any changes made to deepCopyArray will not affect originalArray. Hence, if we print the values of originalArray, the value of the third element will still be 3, not 10.