C# - why does Array.Clone() need a cast?

Question

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 ?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65911599/c-sharp-why-does-array-clone-need-a-cast

Answer 1

Because .Clone() returns an object not an int. Therefore it needs a cast to be of type int.