8.5 compatibility_alias
This is a feature of the Objective-C compiler rather than of the runtime, anyway since it is documented nowhere and its existence was forgotten, we are documenting it here.
The keyword @compatibility_alias
allows you to define a class name as equivalent to another class name. For example:
@compatibility_alias WOApplication GSWApplication;
tells the compiler that each time it encounters WOApplication
as a class name, it should replace it with GSWApplication
(that is, WOApplication
is just an alias for GSWApplication
).
There are some constraints on how this can be used—
WOApplication
(the alias) must not be an existing class;
GSWApplication
(the real class) must be an existing class.
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.5.4/gcc/compatibility_005falias.html