Remove similar(::VectorOfArray, ::Integer) to eliminate 469-child invalidation

This method conflicted with AbstractArray's similar(a, dims...) contract
and caused 469 invalidation children. Users should use standard
similar(VA, T, dims) or construct VectorOfArrays directly.

Invalidation trees: 4 → 3 (and 0 from AbstractVectorOfArray itself —
all 3 remaining are pre-existing from ArrayPartition/NamedArrayPartition)

Co-Authored-By: Chris Rackauckas <accounts@chrisrackauckas.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ChrisRackauckas

src/vector_of_array.jl

@@ -1074,15 +1074,7 @@ end
     return similar(Array{T}, dims)
 end
 
-# similar(VA, dims::Int) - create VectorOfArray with given number of inner arrays
-@inline function Base.similar(VA::VectorOfArray, dims::Integer)
-    l = length(VA.u)
-    return if dims <= l
-        VectorOfArray(similar.(VA.u[1:dims]))
-    else
-        VectorOfArray([similar.(VA.u); [similar(VA.u[end]) for _ in (l + 1):dims]])
-    end
-end
+## similar(VA, dims) inherited from AbstractArray (returns Array)
 
 # fill!
 # For DiffEqArray it ignores ts and fills only u

test/interface_tests.jl

@@ -160,9 +160,10 @@ testva2 = similar(testva)
 @test typeof(testva2) == typeof(testva)
 @test size(testva2) == size(testva)
 
+# similar(VA, dims) returns a regular Array (AbstractArray behavior)
 testva3 = similar(testva, 10)
-@test typeof(testva3) == typeof(testva)
-@test length(testva3.u) == 10  # 10 inner arrays
+@test testva3 isa Vector{Float64}
+@test length(testva3) == 10
 
 # Fill AbstractVectorOfArray and check all
 testval = 3.0