Use new keyword if hiding was intended

Question

I have the following snippet of code that\'s generating the \"Use new keyword if hiding was intended\" warning in VS2008:

public double Foo(double param)
{
          


        

Answer 1

The key is that you're not overriding the method. You're hiding it. If you were overriding it, you'd need the override keyword (at which point, unless it's virtual, the compiler would complain because you can't override a non-virtual method).

You use the new keyword to tell both the compiler and anyone reading the code, "It's okay, I know this is only hiding the base method and not overriding it - that's what I meant to do."

Frankly I think it's rarely a good idea to hide methods - I'd use a different method name, like Craig suggested - but that's a different discussion.