Hands-On Object-Oriented Programming with Kotlin

Copying arrays

When assigning one array to another, Kotlin does not create a new copy in memory. Instead, both instances of the array point to the same location. When the source array is assigned to the target array, both arrays will be impacted if either is updated. To understand this problem, take a look at the following example:

1. Create an integer array, source, and assign it to a target array.
2. Print the target array on the screen.
3. Update the first element of the source array and print the target array. Notice that both arrays affect each other and that both arrays share the same memory location:

fun arrayInstance01(){      val source = intArrayOf(1,2,3)     val target = source      // print target     for (element in target){         println(element)     }  // ...