Clone

📦 std

Make a deep, independent copy of any Perl value — hashes, arrays, scalars, references, blessed objects, tied variables, and weak references.

clone walks a data structure recursively and returns a fresh copy. Shared references inside the input become shared references inside the copy (no accidental duplication), circular structures are reproduced without infinite recursion, weak references come out still weak, and tied variables keep their tie. Modifying the clone never touches the original.

For pure-Perl deep copies, Clone is typically faster than Storable::dclone on shallow to medium-depth structures (roughly three levels or fewer).

Synopsis

use Clone qw(clone);

my $copy = clone($original);       # function form

package Foo;
use parent 'Clone';
my $other = $obj->clone;           # method form (inherited)

Functions

Cloning

clone

Return a deep, independent copy of a Perl value.