Creates a shallow clone of value. Top-level arrays and objects are new; nested values keep their original references. Part of Lodash 4.x Lang.
Warning: Nested objects and arrays are shared with the source. Need full isolation? Use _.cloneDeep.
Call _.clone. Start with this line.
_.clone(value)| Call | What it does |
|---|---|
_.clone(value) | Primary signature. |
Prefer import clone from "lodash/clone" when you want a smaller bundle.
_.clone(value)| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| value | Required. Value to shallow-clone |
| Return Value | Description |
|---|---|
| * | New top-level value (or same primitive) |
New array shell; element objects stay shared.
var objects = [{ a: 1 }, { b: 2 }];
var shallow = _.clone(objects);
console.log(shallow[0] === objects[0]);
// → true
console.log(shallow === objects);
// → falseshallow[0] === objects[0] is true.shallow === objects is false.Changing a top-level property on the clone leaves the source alone.
var source = { x: 1, y: 2 };
var copy = _.clone(source);
copy.x = 9;
// source.x → 1
// copy.x → 9
// copy !== source → truex and y are numbers — copied by value.copy.x = 9 does not touch source.Mutating a nested property affects both clone and source.
var source = { a: 1, b: { c: 2 } };
var copy = _.clone(source);
copy.b.c = 99;
// source.b.c → 99
// copy.b === source.b → truecopy is a new object.b still points at the same inner object.copy.b.c changes source.b.c._.cloneDeep when nested edits must stay private.New array; number elements are safe to reshape independently.
var nums = [1, 2, 3];
var copy = _.clone(nums);
copy.push(4);
// nums → [1, 2, 3]
// copy → [1, 2, 3, 4]
// copy !== nums → truenums.slice() for flat arrays.clone vs cloneDeepDeep clone isolates nested objects; shallow does not.
var source = { b: { c: 1 } };
var shallow = _.clone(source);
var deep = _.cloneDeep(source);
shallow.b === source.b; // → true
deep.b === source.b; // → falseb.b is a different object.clone. Nested edits → cloneDeep._.clone is a Lodash 4.x Lang helper. It runs anywhere Lodash runs — modern browsers (CDN or bundle) and Node.js / Bun / Deno with npm install lodash.
Available in [email protected] full builds and the lodash/clone modular import. Closest native shallow patterns: Object.assign({}, obj), { ...obj }, and array.slice(). Lodash also handles more built-in types consistently.
Bottom line: Safe for production once Lodash is loaded. Prefer import clone from "lodash/clone" for smaller bundles. Remember: shallow — nested references stay shared.
Recursively clone values so nested objects are fully isolated.
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