How to clone ArrayList and also clone its contents?

Question

How can I clone an ArrayList and also clone its items in Java?

For example I have:

ArrayList dogs = getDogs();
ArrayList

        

Answer 1

I have found a way, you can use json to serialize/unserialize the list. The serialized list holds no reference to the original object when unserialized.

Using gson:

List originalList = new ArrayList<>(); // add some items later
String listAsJson = gson.toJson(originalList);
List newList = new Gson().fromJson(listAsJson, new TypeToken>() {}.getType());

You can do that using jackson and any other json library too.