The microsoft docs show that C#'s Array.Clone() method returns type object:
public object Clone ();
and indeed the example they give includes a cast.
eg
int[] myClone1 = (new int[2]).Clone(); // Type error
int[] myClone2 = (int[])(new int[2]).Clone(); // All good
Why does Clone() return object instead of the expected type ?
Because .Clone() returns an object not an int. Therefore it needs a cast to be of type int.
Clone() returns object rather than (in this case) int[].
.Clone() is an implementation of ICloneable.Clone, then it must return an Object.
Microsoft docs mentioned refer to it in "Implements".
A shallow copy of an Array copies only the elements of the Array, whether they are reference types or value types, but it does not copy the objects that the references refer to. The references in the new Array point to the same objects that the references in the original Array point to.
In contrast, a deep copy of an Array copies the elements and everything directly or indirectly referenced by the elements.
The clone is of the same Type as the original Array.
int[] array = new int[2] { 12, 13 };
int[] arrClone = (int[])array.Clone();
//or
object arrClone1 = array.Clone();
//or
object arrClone2 = array;
foreach(var item in (IEnumerable<int>)arrClone2)
{
int x = item;
}
Clone() is awkward.
ToArray()which will not need to be castToArray()tip as well, I'd missed that.