.NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference, Volume 1: Base Class Library and Extended Numerics Library

Type Summary

						public interface ICloneable
{
  // Methods
     object Clone ();
}

JR The documentation for this interface states that Clone can make either a shallow or deep copy. This is ridiculous; the standard should have defined Clone as making a deep copy. Without a guarantee of the type of copy, you must be careful how you use a cloned object and have intimate knowledge of what Clone does for a type; this information is usually not documented, leading to problems. KG Echoing Jeffrey's comment, without a contract for ICloneable, which specifies whether it is deep or shallow, this interface is close to unusable. Defining a deep-copy version would have definitely been the most useful approach here. Because of this loose contract, anyone utilizing ...