Casting Object array into String array throws ClassCastException [duplicate]

Question

List<String> list = getNames();//this returns a list of names(String).

String[] names = (String[]) list.toArray(); // throws class cast exception.

I don't understand why ? Any solution, explanation is appreciated.

Answer 1

This is because the parameterless toArray produces an array of Objects. You need to call the overload which takes the output array as the parameter, and pass an array of Strings, like this:

String[] names = (String[]) list.toArray(new String[list.size()]);

In Java 5 or newer you can drop the cast.

String[] names = list.toArray(new String[list.size()]);