tl;dr -- What does the below quoted paragraph mean?
Be suspicious of classes of which there is only one instance. A single instance might indicate that the design confuses objects with classes. Consider whether you could just create an object instead of a new class. Can the variation of the derived class be represented in data rather than as a distinct class? The Singleton pattern is one notable exception to this guideline.
McConnell, Steve (2004-06-09). Code Complete (2nd Edition)
Extended version:
I'm currently reading Code Complete, and I'm having trouble understanding the above mentioned paragraph. For context, it's from Chapter 6 under guidelines for inheritance. At first I thought this was advice against using Singletons, but I was obviously proven wrong by the time I got to the end of the paragraph.
I simply can't grasp what the author is trying to get through my thick skull. For example, I don't know what he means by design confusing objects with classes, nor what that means in the context of having a class with only one instance. Help!