Confuse your colleagues by using class aliases in C#

C# supports the concept of namespaces aliases for a long time. This allows you to create an alias for long namespaces so you don’t have to specify the whole name every time.

An example:

	namespace PC.MyCompany.Project
	{
	class Product
	{
	}
	}

view raw Product.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

	using Project = PC.MyCompany.Project;
	namespace Example
	{
	class Program
	{
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
	var product=new Project.Product();
	Console.ReadKey();
	}
	}
	}

view raw Using.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Did you know that this does not only work for namespaces but also for classes? It is also possible to alias a specific class name.

An example:

	//Don't do this at home and choose a non-confusing alias name ;-)
	using Order = PC.MyCompany.Project.Product
	namespace Example
	{
	class Program
	{
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
	var order=new Order();
	Console.ReadKey();
	}
	}
	}

view raw Example.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

This feature could be fun if you start using aliases that match with class names used somewhere else in your codebase. Like in the example above where I assigned the Product class an Order alias. Can’t be any more confusing! So please don’t do this at work and choose a good alias name instead…