title: Are empty abstract classes a bad practice, and why?
body: <p>We have several empty abstract class in our codebase. I find that ugly. But besides this very stupid reason (ugliness), should I refactor it (into empty interface e.g.) ?</p>
  
  <p>Otherwise, the code is robust and well tested. So if it's only for a "aesthetic" reason, I will pass and let the empty abstract classes remain.</p>
  
  <p>What do you think?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT : </p>
  
  <p>1) By "empty abstract class", I mean something like : </p>
  
  <pre><code>public abstract class EmptyAbstractClass {}
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>2) The reason for the "emptiness" : Hibernate. I don't master this persistence framework at all. I just understand that an interface cannot be mapped to a table, and for this technical reason, a class has been preferred to an interface.</p>