The [any->asCopy] method returns a shallow copy of an object. In the rare circumstance that a deep copy is required, use the [any->asCopyDeep] method.

In Lasso, a type has depth if it contains other objects, so the [integer] and [string] types, for example, have no depth. This means that [any->asCopy] is the same as [any->asCopyDeep] for these types. Other types, such as the [array] type, do contain other objects and therefore have depth.

The [any->asCopy] performs a shallow copy which means that the returned copy refers to the same objects as the original object. The original object can be modified without affecting the copied object. For example, remove an element from the original array and it will still exist in the copied array. However, modify an object inside the original object, that object will also be changed in the copied object.

For example:

var(original) = array('moose', 2, map('hair'='wool'), 'jazz')
   var(copy) = $original->asCopy
   $original->removeAll(2)
   $original->get(2)->find('hair')->uppercase
   $original->get(3)->uppercase
   $copy

Produces:

   array(moose, 2, map(hair = WOOL), JAZZ)