title: C# Namespace Alias qualifier (::) vs Dereferencing Operator (.)
body: <p>Quick and simple question. I kind of understand what the Namespace Alias qualifier does, it's for accessing members in a namespace, however so does the dereferencing operator. I am really baffled as to the difference in this situation, why you would use one over the other, or how they each accomplish the same thing.</p>
  
  <pre><code>using colAlias = System.Collections;
  
  namespace myns
  {
      class TestApp
      {
          static void Main()
          {
              colAlias.Hashtable test = new colAlias.Hashtable();
              colAlias::Hashtable test1 = new colAlias::Hashtable();
          }
      }
  }
  </code></pre>