Editing Reserved word (section)

==Reserved words and language independence==
Microsoft's [[.NET Framework|.NET]] [[Common Language Infrastructure]] (CLI) specification allows code written in 40+ different programming languages to be combined into a final product. Because of this, identifier/reserved word collisions can occur when code implemented in one language tries to execute code written in another language. For example, a [[Visual Basic (.NET)]] library may contain a [[Class (computer programming)|class]] definition such as:

<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
' Class Definition of This in Visual Basic.NET:

Public Class this
        ' This class does something...
End Class
</syntaxhighlight>

If this is compiled and distributed as part of a toolbox, a [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]] programmer, wishing to define a variable of type "<code>this</code>" would encounter a problem: <code>'this'</code> is a reserved word in C#. Thus, the following will not compile in C#:

<syntaxhighlight lang="csharp">
// Using This Class in C#:

this x = new this();  // Won't compile!
</syntaxhighlight>

A similar issue arises when accessing members, overriding [[virtual method]]s, and identifying namespaces.

This is resolved by [[Stropping (syntax)|stropping]]. To work around this issue, the specification allows placing (in C#) the [[at-sign]] before the identifier, which forces it to be considered an identifier rather than a reserved word by the compiler:

<syntaxhighlight lang="csharp">
// Using This Class in C#:

@this x = new @this();  // Will compile! 
</syntaxhighlight>

For consistency, this use is also permitted in non-public settings such as local variables, parameter names, and private members.