Python prevent copying object as reference

Question

Is it possible to copy an object in Python without copying a reference?

For example, if I define a class

class SomeClass:     def __init__(self):         self.value = 0 

and then create an instance

someObject = SomeClass() someObject.value = 12 

and I try to copy it to another instance:

anotherObject = someObject 

and try to modify a property,

anotherObject.value = 10 

the original property gets modified:

print someObject.value #prints 10 

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? To clarify, I want the anotherObject.value to contain 10, but I want someObject.value to still contain the original 12. Is this possible in python?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The problem is, with

anotherObject = someObject 

you don't copy the object, but just add another reference to it. To copy an object, try this:

from copy import copy  anotherObject = copy(someObject)