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url: >-
  /statelake/scripting-reference/json-for-scripts/objects-references-and-deep-copying.md
---

# Objects References And Deep Copying

Whenever you access any **TJSONValue** descendants, you are actually dealing with references to them. It means that the following operation will not end up with a new instance of JSON object:

```pascal
var
    Obj1, Obj2: TJSONObject;
begin
    …
    Obj2 := Obj1[‘subobject’] as TJSONObject;
    Obj1.Free;
end;
```

In the example, **Obj2** is referencing to a subobject of **Obj1**. That is why we should not release memory of **Obj2** since it is also a part of **Obj1**.

However, we might need to obtain a deep copy of a **TJSONObject** or **TJSONArray**. In this case, method **Clone** can be used:

```pascal
var
    Obj1, Obj2: TJSONObject;
begin
    …
    Obj2 := Obj1[‘subobject’].Clone as TJSONObject;
    Obj1.Free;
    Obj2.Free;
end;
```

Here we have to release memory of both objects, because **Obj2** is not included in **Obj1** anymore. **Obj2** is a deep copy of a subobject of **Obj1** with exactly the same data, but its own allocated memory.