fix: move away from C-style casts to C++ static, reinterpret and const casts - #401

Node.js 20 is deprecated. The following actions target Node.js 20 but are being forced to run on Node.js 24: actions/checkout@v3, conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v3, ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1. For more information see: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-09-19-deprecation-of-node-20-on-github-actions-runners/

`auto-activate-base` is deprecated. Please use `auto-activate`. If your installer does not use the `base` environment as the default environment, also add `activate-environment: base`.

WARNING conda.conda_pypi.main:notify_externally_managed_future(156): Did you know? You can install many PyPI packages with conda using the conda-pypi beta. Get started: https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/stable/new-features.html

The 'defaults' channel might have been added implicitly. If this is intentional, add 'defaults' to the 'channels' list. Otherwise, consider setting 'conda-remove-defaults' to 'true'.