Cannot convert type: why is it necesssary to cast twice?

Question

Given this highly simplified example:

abstract class Animal { }

class Dog : Animal
{
  public void Bark() { }
}
class Cat : Animal
{
  public void Mew() { }         


        

Answer 1

There is no explicit type conversion exist between Animal to Dog since your constrains says T must be of type Animal. Though Dog ‘Is a’ an Animal , the compiler doesn't know that T is Dog. Therefore, it doesn't let you cast.

You can either approach this through implicit conversion

implicit operator Animal(Dog myClass) 

or can use something like below

Dog d = _animal as Dog;