Java Sealed Classes: Control Inheritance with Sealed Classes

🧠 Sealed Classes in Java — Controlling Inheritance Like a Pro ⚙️ In Java, inheritance has always been powerful… but also dangerous when used without control. Until now, any developer could extend your class — even when you never intended it. 😅 That’s where Sealed Classes (introduced in Java 15+) come in. They let you decide exactly which classes are allowed to extend or implement your class. 🚀 --- 💡 What It Looks Like public sealed class Shape permits Circle, Rectangle {} final class Circle extends Shape {} final class Rectangle extends Shape {} Here’s what’s happening: ✅ sealed → restricts inheritance ✅ permits → defines allowed subclasses ✅ Subclasses must be either final, sealed, or non-sealed --- 🧩 Why It’s Powerful 🚫 Prevents unwanted inheritance 🔒 Makes your class hierarchy more predictable 🧠 Great for API design and security 💬 Works beautifully with switch expressions and pattern matching You get control + clarity — two things every clean architecture needs. --- ⚠️ When Not to Use It Avoid sealed classes when your hierarchy is meant to be open and extensible (like framework-level abstractions). Use them when you need tight control — like domain models or SDK design. --- 🧠 Bonus Tip Combine Sealed Classes with Records (from yesterday’s post) to create immutable and well-defined hierarchies — it’s modern Java elegance at its best 💎 #Java #Java17 #CleanCode #OOP #SoftwareDesign #BackendDevelopment #CodeQuality

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