What is the difference between cloning the object with .clone() method and = sign?

Question

I am really confused about what is the difference between `.clone()` method or simply putting the `=` sign between objects while trying to clone it. Thank You.

Accepted Answer

If you create a new Dog:

```
Dog a = new Dog("Mike");
```

and then:

```
Dog b = a;
```

You'd have one `Dog` and two variables that reference the same `Dog`. Therefore doing:

```
a.putHatOnHead("Fedora");

if (b.hasHatOnHead()) {
    System.out.println("Has a hat: " + b.getHatName());
}
```

Will print that the dog has a Fedora hat, because `a` and `b` reference the same dog.

Instead, doing:

```
Dog b = a.clone();
```

Now you have two dogs clones. If you put a hat on each dog:

```
a.putHatOnHead("Rayden");
b.putHatOnHead("Fedora");
```

Each dog will have its own hat.

What is the difference between cloning the object with .clone() method and = sign?

Solution

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