Extendable, but not instantiatable

[David Duran]

I want to make a class extendable, but not instantiatable. Is that even possible?

[Bear Bibeault]

Declare it abstract, or give it a private constructor.
hth,
bear

[David Duran]

Thanks Bear.
I'll try the abstract idea, but the private constructor idea can't work. If a subclass extends a superclass, the superclass' constructorwill be called before the subclass'. If the superclass' constructor is private, it will through a compile-time error.

[Thomas Paul]

One of the key purposes of making a class abstract is to prevent it from being instantiated. Abstract classes do not have to have abstract methods.