Content of an array gets cleared

Ruby
1

Hello,

Looking for you suggestions.

  1. array = %w(a b c d e)
  2. tempArray = array
  3. array.clear
  4. puts tempArray.length

line 4 outputs: 0
Why does my tempArray get cleared also?
Any suggestions on how to keep the tempArray content from clearing out?

Thanks

2

Parv G. wrote:

Hello,

Looking for you suggestions.

  1. array = %w(a b c d e)
  2. tempArray = array
  3. array.clear
  4. puts tempArray.length

line 4 outputs: 0
Why does my tempArray get cleared also?
Any suggestions on how to keep the tempArray content from clearing out?

Thanks

because array and tempArray are references to the same Array instance.

see same object

array.object_id #=> -605829518
tempArray.object_id #=> -605829518

tempArray = array.dup #=> make a shallow copy.
array.clear
puts tempArray.length #=> 5

3

tempArray = array.dup #=> make a shallow copy.
array.clear
puts tempArray.length #=> 5

That should do the trick for me.

Thanks a lot!
Parv