Why aren't classes sealed by default?

Question

I was just wondering, since the sealed keyword\'s existence indicates that it\'s the class author\'s decision as to whether other classes are allowed to inh

Answer 1

I can't recall having heard a rationale for the decision to have classes not sealed by default. However, there are certainly quite a few people who believe that C# should have been spec'ed to have sealed be the default:

http://codebetter.com/blogs/patricksmacchia/archive/2008/01/05/rambling-on-the-sealed-keyword.aspx