How to cast an array object to array of string

Question

* Can someone please tell me why SECTION 3 causes a cast
* exception?
* What I am really trying to do is put Strings into a vector and
* return them as an array of String with a line like:
*     return (String[])myVector.toArray();
* How to do this?
* Thank You!
public class CastArrayTest
     public static void main(String args[]){
          //SECTION 1: This works
          String[] fruits = {"apple", "banana"};
          Object[] objs = (Object[])fruits;
          String[] foods = (String[])objs;
          for (int i = 0 ; i < foods.length ; i++){
               System.out.println(foods);
          //SECTION 2: this works too
          Object anObj = new Object();
          String aString = "ok";
          anObj = aString;
          String anotherString = (String)anObj;
          System.out.println("word for single obj is " + anotherString);
          //SECTION 3: this causes cast exception at line
          // String[] strings = (String[])stuff
          Object[] stuff = new Object[2];
          String a = "try";
          String b = "this";
          stuff[0] = a;
          stuff[1] = b;
          String[] strings = (String[])stuff;
          for (int x = 0 ; x < strings.length ; x++){
               String s = strings[x];
               System.out.println("the string is " + strings[x]);

Answer 1

I understand all replies so far, but from my
understanding, objects are passed by reference No, they're not. Rather, object references are passed by value.
Object obj = new Object();
String a = "pass me by reference";
Object anotherObj = (Object)a; // this explicit cast is not necessary
String anotherString = (String)anotherObj; // this cast works because the object in question is a String
There's no passing in that code, so I'm not sure where that even came from. However, that works because it's all legal casting.
works as I think it should, and does, and futhermore
String[] cast to Obj[] cast to String[] works also...Because the object you're casting actually is a String[].
so why not if Obj[] to String[] Because String[] is not a subclass of Object[]. That's just how the language is specified.
futhermore if they are
all string...Again, this has no bearing on the type of the array object.
I saw hot to cast array to String[] and wondered if
this is real cast or calls the toString method...It's a real cast.
but most importantly, does this mean if I have a
vector of Strings and want to get them as an array of
strings, I have to loop through the Obj[] (or vector)
and cast each to (String)...just to get them as an
array of String[]....No, zparticle's code can do that.