我在这里没有看到一个简短的，容易理解的答案——所以我会试一试。

使用浅拷贝，源指向的任何对象也会被目标指向(因此不会复制引用的对象)。

使用深度复制，源指向的任何对象都将被复制，而目标指向的副本(因此现在每个引用的对象都有2个)。这是递归向下的对象树。

struct sample
{
    char * ptr;
}
void shallowcpy(sample & dest, sample & src)
{
    dest.ptr=src.ptr;
}
void deepcpy(sample & dest, sample & src)
{
    dest.ptr=malloc(strlen(src.ptr)+1);
    memcpy(dest.ptr,src.ptr);
}

我想给出一个例子，而不是正式的定义。

var originalObject = { 
    a : 1, 
    b : 2, 
    c : 3,
};

这段代码显示了一个浅拷贝:

var copyObject1 = originalObject;

console.log(copyObject1.a);         // it will print 1 
console.log(originalObject.a);       // it will also print 1 
copyObject1.a = 4; 
console.log(copyObject1.a);           //now it will print 4 
console.log(originalObject.a);       // now it will also print 4

var copyObject2 = Object.assign({}, originalObject);

console.log(copyObject2.a);        // it will print 1 
console.log(originalObject.a);      // it will also print 1 
copyObject2.a = 4; 
console.log(copyObject2.a);        // now it will print 4 
console.log(originalObject.a);      // now it will print 1

这段代码显示了一个深度拷贝:

var copyObject2 = Object.assign({}, originalObject);

console.log(copyObject2.a);        // it will print 1 
console.log(originalObject.a);      // it will also print 1 
copyObject2.a = 4; 
console.log(copyObject2.a);        // now it will print 4 
console.log(originalObject.a);      // !! now it will print 1 !!

摘自[博客]:http://sickprogrammersarea.blogspot.in/2014/03/technical-interview-questions-on-c_6.html

深度复制涉及使用一个对象的内容创建同一类的另一个实例。在深度复制中，两个对象可能包含相同的信息，但目标对象将有自己的缓冲区和资源。任何一个对象的销毁都不会影响剩下的对象。重载赋值操作符将创建对象的深层副本。

浅拷贝包括将一个对象的内容复制到同类的另一个实例中，从而创建镜像。由于直接复制引用和指针，这两个对象将共享另一个对象的相同外部包含内容，这是不可预测的。

解释:

Using a copy constructor we simply copy the data values member by member. This method of copying is called shallow copy. If the object is a simple class, comprised of built in types and no pointers this would be acceptable. This function would use the values and the objects and its behavior would not be altered with a shallow copy, only the addresses of pointers that are members are copied and not the value the address is pointing to. The data values of the object would then be inadvertently altered by the function. When the function goes out of scope, the copy of the object with all its data is popped off the stack.

如果对象有任何指针，则需要执行深度复制。对于对象的深层拷贝，在自由存储区中为对象分配内存，并复制指向的元素。深度拷贝用于函数返回的对象。

var source = { firstName="Jane", lastname="Jones" };
var shallow = ShallowCopyOf(source);
var deep = DeepCopyOf(source);
source.lastName = "Smith";
WriteLine(source.lastName); // prints Smith
WriteLine(shallow.lastName); // prints Smith
WriteLine(deep.lastName); // prints Jones

为了便于理解，你可以参考这篇文章: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~scottm/cs307/handouts/deepCopying.htm

浅拷贝:

深拷贝: