--- title: Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation... description: Java prevents direct instantiation of interfaces, abstract classes, and enums using the 'new' keyword, raising a 'Cannot instantiate the type' compilation... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation Error | daily.dev og:description: Java prevents direct instantiation of interfaces, abstract classes, and enums using the 'new' keyword, raising a 'Cannot instantiate the type' compilation... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1SXSufb6b.png og:image:alt: Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation Error og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation Error **[Baeldung](https://daily.dev/sources/baeldung)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Java prevents direct instantiation of interfaces, abstract classes, and enums using the 'new' keyword, raising a 'Cannot instantiate the type' compilation error. Interfaces define contracts without implementations, abstract classes are intentionally incomplete, and enums have fixed compile-time instances with private constructors. Solutions include using concrete implementation classes for interfaces, creating subclasses for abstract classes, and referencing enum constants directly. Java 17+ sealed classes add further constraints by restricting which classes can extend or implement a type, and work well with pattern matching for exhaustive switch expressions. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Java sealed classes and exhaustive pattern matching](https://daily.dev/posts/java-sealed-classes-and-exhaustive-pattern-matching-pahwvvg9e) · Neil Madden · 19 upvotes · 0 comments - [Compile-Time Conditions in Java](https://daily.dev/posts/compile-time-conditions-in-java-kjy5rh792) · Baeldung · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Kotlin : Sealed Classes and Interface](https://daily.dev/posts/kotlin-sealed-classes-and-interface-dtu0kurmx) · droidcon · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#general-programming](https://daily.dev/tags/general-programming), [#java](https://daily.dev/tags/java) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation Error","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b"},"datePublished":"2026-02-27T13:08:42.089Z","dateModified":"2026-02-27T13:09:38.679Z","description":"Java prevents direct instantiation of interfaces, abstract classes, and enums using the 'new' keyword, raising a 'Cannot instantiate the type' compilation...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9fe6a7e1fed5dab6e32774e8bd9483c7?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9fe6a7e1fed5dab6e32774e8bd9483c7?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Baeldung","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Baeldung","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/52cccfb454d946c4b7dfa5e816f9e576","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/baeldung"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/resolving-the-cannot-instantiate-the-type-compilation-error-1sxsufb6b","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"general-programming,java","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Baeldung","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/baeldung"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Resolving the “Cannot instantiate the type” Compilation Error"}]} ```