What does a copy constructor guarantee when performing a deep copy of a linked list?

• A. The new list shares nodes with the original
• B. The new list has distinct nodes with identical data
• C. The new list copies only the data values and leaves nodes shared
• D. The new list is a reversed mirror of the original

Answer: (B)

In a deep copy performed by a copy constructor, the goal is to duplicate the entire structure so the new list is completely independent from the original. That means for each node in the original, a new node is created in the copy, and the data is copied over. The result is a list with distinct nodes that contain identical data to the corresponding nodes in the original. The next pointers in the new list link to other newly created nodes, preserving the same order, not pointing to any node in the original. Because every node is a separate object, changes to the new list do not affect the original. Choices that imply sharing nodes, only copying values while leaving nodes shared, or reversing the list don’t reflect this independent, node-for-node duplication.