As with other objects, when you assign one array reference variable to another, you are simply changing the object to which the variable refers. You are not causing a copy of the array to be made, nor are you causing the contents of one array to be copied to the other. For example, consider this program:
// Assigning array reference variables. using System; class AssignARef { public static void Main() { int i; int[] nums1 = new int[10]; int[] nums2 = new int[10]; for(i=0; i < 10; i++) nums1[i] = i; for(i=0; i < 10; i++) nums2[i] = -i; Console.Write("Here is nums1: "); for(i=0; i < 10; i++) Console.Write(nums1[i] + " "); Console.WriteLine(); Console.Write("Here is nums2: "); for(i=0; i < 10; i++) Console.Write(nums2[i] + " "); Console.WriteLine(); nums2 = nums1; // now nums2 refers to nums1 Console.Write("Here is nums2 after assignment: "); for(i=0; i < 10; i++) Console.Write(nums2[i] + " "); Console.WriteLine(); // now operate on nums1 array through nums2 nums2[3] = 99; Console.Write("Here is nums1 after change through nums2: "); for(i=0; i < 10; i++) Console.Write(nums1[i] + " "); Console.WriteLine(); } }
The output from the program is shown here:
Here is nums1: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Here is nums2: 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 Here is nums2 after assignment: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Here is nums1 after change through nums2: 0 1 2 99 4 5 6 7 8 9
As the output shows, after the assignment of nums1 to nums2, both array reference variables refer to the same object.