Scope-resolution operator :: versus member-access operator . in C#

Question

In C#, what\'s the difference between A::B and A.B? The only difference I\'ve noticed is that only :: can be used with global

Answer 1

the :: operator only works with aliases global is a special system provided alias.

so ... this works:

using Foo = System.ComponentModel;

public MyClass {

  private Foo::SomeClassFromSystemComponentModel X;

}

but not this:

public MyClass {

  private System.ComponentModel::SomeClassFromSystemComponentModel X;

}

This lets you escape from the hell of sub namespaces that can come about when you are integrating with a library where they have:

namespace MyAwesomeProduct.System
{

}

And you in you code have

using MyAwesomeProduct;

global:: lets you find the real System.

MSDN info here