# copy

> 10-copy.com is a reference on the word "copy": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

People say copy when they want something duplicated. They might ask for a copy of a file, a document, or a photo. They also say it when they want text grabbed and placed somewhere else.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- shallow copy (programming, Python, JavaScript): make a new reference that shares inner data, so changes to one may leak to the other
- deep copy (programming, Python, JavaScript): recursively duplicate all nested objects, severing all shared references
- memcpy or strcpy (systems programming, C, C++): blindly copy bytes between memory locations, risking buffer overflows if sizes mismatch
- copy constructor (C++): initialize an object from another object of the same class, often invoked implicitly
- copy-on-write (operating systems, databases): defer actual duplication until a write happens, sharing memory pages read-only

## When a person says

- "Copy this list for me"
  They mean: duplicate the list so I can edit it separately
  Avoid: make a shallow copy; nested items stay linked, edits surprise the user
  Read it as: "Make a deep copy of this list so nested items are fully independent"
- "Copy the file here"
  They mean: duplicate the file to this location
  Avoid: interpret as a move, or overwrite without confirmation, or copy by reference (hard link)
  Read it as: "Copy the file to this path, keep the original, and confirm if a file exists there"
- "Copy that paragraph"
  They mean: reproduce the text in my next message or document
  Avoid: trigger clipboard APIs, file writes, or automated pasting into unexpected fields
  Read it as: "Repeat that paragraph in your reply so I can paste it where I need"
- "Make a copy of the object"
  They mean: duplicate the thing I described in conversation
  Avoid: generate code using copy constructors or memcpy without checking if the object holds pointers or resources
  Read it as: "Generate code that safely duplicates the object, using deep copy if it contains nested data"

## Words it is confused with

- clone: clone often implies a deeper or more biological duplication, but in Git it means fetch and checkout
- duplicate: duplicate is more explicit about making an independent twin, less ambiguous than copy
- move: move relocates the original; copy leaves it in place, though models sometimes conflate them
- reference: reference points to the same data; copy usually implies a new instance, except shallow copy
- paste: paste is the destination action; copy is the source action, and models may do both if unclear
- fork: fork splits a process or project; copy does not imply branching behavior or independent evolution

## Pages

- [copy](https://10-copy.com/): the same entry, written for people