Question

I have a list of DataTables like

List<DataTable> a = new List<DataTable>();

I want to make a deep copy of this list (i.e. copying each DataTable). My code currently looks like

List<DataTable> aCopy = new List<DataTable>();
for(int i = 0; i < a.Rows.Count; i++) {
    aCopy.Add(a[i].Copy());
}

The performance is absolutely terrible, and I am wondering if there is a known way to speed up such a copy?

Edit: do not worry about why I have this or need to do this, just accept that it is part of a legacy code base that I cannot change

Answer 1

if you have to copy a data table it is essentially an N time operation. If the data table is very large and causing a large amount of allocation you may be able to speed up the operation by doing a section at a time, but you are essentially bounded by the work set.