Prevent usage of default constructor

Question

Is there a way to prevent the usage of the default constructor?

All I can think of is throwing an exception, but I would like something that causes a compile time er

Answer 1

One thing to mention that others have not. The default constructor should still be able to set up the default implementation bits, to avoid reuse. This is not a problem if it is private, as you can still chain down to a private constructor. You just make it unavailable to outside sources.

private MyClass()
{
}

public MyClass(string something) : this()
{
}

That solves the problem. Note, however, that protected may actually be a preferred implementation if the class is not sealed.