Why is Multiple Inheritance not allowed in C#?

Question

Hi Experts... I know that multiple inheritance is not allowed in C#. But it can be implemented by using interfaces. Can anybody tell me precisely why it is not allowed? Thanks in advance..

Vulpes · Answer

When .NET was being designed in the late 1990's it was felt that multiple inheritance was more trouble than it was worth (the 'diamond' problem virtual base classes etc) and so the designers decided to go with a single inheritance model instead. The designers of Java and Delphi had already come to a similar conclusion. However there are nevertheless some situations where multiple inheritance is a good design and if you look in the sidebar to the right of this thread you'll find a couple of articles I've written about simulating it in C#.

Vulpes · Answer

There's a fuller explanation here by the C# team of why multiple inheritance isn't supported: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/csharpfaq/archive/2004/03/07/why-doesn-t-c-support-multiple-inheritance.aspx

Suthish Nair · Answer

He is always right here ! :)

Mahesh Chand · Answer

Vulpes is right.