What are the mechanisms for copying objects in Python?

In Python, there are two main mechanisms for copying objects:

1. Shallow copy — creates a new object, but nested objects inside it remain references to the original. The copy.copy() function is used.

2. Deep copy — creates a new object and recursively copies all nested objects, completely separating the copy from the original. The copy.deepcopy() function is used.

Example:

import copy

original = [1, [2, 3], 4]
shallow = copy.copy(original)
deep = copy.deepcopy(original)

original[1][0] = 'changed'

print(shallow)  # [1, ['changed', 3], 4] — nested list has changed
print(deep)     # [1, [2, 3], 4] — nested list remains the same

For simple objects, slices or constructors (e.g., list(original)) can also be used, but they usually perform shallow copies.