'clone()' should have return type equal to the class it contains

Reports clone() methods with return types different from the class they're located in.

Often a clone() method will have a return type of java.lang.Object, which makes it harder to use by its clients. Effective Java (the second and third editions) recommends making the return type of the clone() method the same as the class type of the object it returns.

Example:

class Foo implements Cloneable {
  public Object clone() {
    try {
      return super.clone();
    } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
      throw new AssertionError();
    }
  }
}

After the quick-fix is applied:

class Foo implements Cloneable {
  public Foo clone() {
    try {
      return (Foo)super.clone();
    } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
      throw new AssertionError();
    }
  }
}

Inspection Details
Available in:	IntelliJ IDEA 2023.3, Qodana for JVM 2023.3
Plugin:	Java, 233.SNAPSHOT

Last modified: 13 July 2023