What is a motivation to make classes final by de...

Motivation for Making Classes Final by Default in Kotlin

In Kotlin, classes are final by default, meaning they cannot be inherited unless explicitly marked as open. This design decision was made with several motivations in mind:

1. Improved code clarity and maintainability: By making classes final by default, Kotlin encourages developers to think carefully about inheritance and whether it is necessary for a particular class. This helps prevent unintended consequences and makes the code more readable and maintainable.

2. Reduced complexity: Inheritance can introduce complexity and make code harder to understand, especially when dealing with large class hierarchies. By making classes final by default, Kotlin simplifies the language and reduces the potential for misuse or abuse of inheritance.

3. Performance optimization: When a class is final, the compiler can perform certain optimizations, such as inlining methods, which can lead to better performance. This is particularly important in languages like Kotlin, where performance is a key concern.

4. Alignment with common best practices: Many programming best practices recommen...