C# Language Specification

Identical simple names and type names

In a member access of the form E.I, if E is a single identifier, and if the meaning of E as a simple-name (§7.6.2) is a constant, field, property, local variable, or parameter with the same type as the meaning of E as a type-name (§3.8), then both possible meanings of E are permitted. The two possible meanings of E.I are never ambiguous, since I must necessarily be a member of the type E in both cases. In other words, the rule simply permits access to the static members and nested types of E where a compile-time error would otherwise have occurred. For example:

struct Color

{
public static readonly Color White = new Color(...);
public static readonly Color Black = new Color(...);

public Color Complement() {...}

}

class A
{

public Color Color; // Field Color of type Color

void F() {

Color = Color.Black; // References Color.Black static member
Color = Color.Complement(); // Invokes Complement() on Color field
}

static void G() {

Color c = Color.White; // References Color.White static member
}
}

Within the A class, those occurrences of the Color identifier that reference the Color type are underlined, and those that reference the Color field are not underlined.

2.