Question

Can we alias a class name the way we do in namespaces?

For example:

namespace longname{ }
namespace ln = longname;// namespace aliasing

class LONGNAME {};
class LN = LONGNAME; // how to do class name aliasing, if allowed?

Answer 1

Simple:

typedef LONGNAME LN;

Typedefs are used in C++ a bit like “variables which can store types”. Example:

class Car
{
public:
    typedef std::vector<Wheel> WheelCollection;

    WheelCollection wheels;
};

By using Car::WheelCollection everywhere instead of std::vector<Wheel>, you can change the container type in one place and have all your code reflect the changes. This is the C++ way to abstract data types (whereas eg. in C# you’d have a property returning IEnumerable<Wheel>).