super.clone() in deep copy in java

Question

//this is an incomplete code

public Object clone() // override clone method
{
Employee emp;
try
{
emp = (Employee) super.clone();
emp.address = (Address) address.clone();
}
catch(CloneNotSupportedException e)
{
return null; // will never happen
}
return emp;
}

// Question: why the super.clone() can be downcasted as it is the parent object

Answer 1

Downcasting is allowed when there is a possibility that it succeeds at run time. As long as the super object could reference a subclass object, it works.
You did not share any information about the super class, but you should always check it with the instanceof operator to avoid any runtime errors.