Microsoft Interview Question - Two dll with same name same version same strong key can be placed in a folder ?

Question

Recently my friend attended interview in Microsoft. One of the interesting question is as follows.

Two dll with same name, same version, same strong key can be placed in a folder ?.

My friend argued its not possible, two dll with same name with different version can be placed.

But the interviewer argued its possible in one situation.

Does any body know its possible or not ?

All your valuable comments will be appreciated !!

Mahesh Chand · Answer

I think he was expecting more details on version. You can have same assembly name but it can have a different version minor version build and revision number. Here is an assembly version. major version >. minor version >. build number >. revision > For example version 1.5.1254.0 indicates 1 as the major version 5 as the minor version 1254 as the build number and 0 as the revision number. Version number is not a part of name of the assembly but is stored in the assembly manifest along with other identity information including the assembly name and public key as well as information on relationships and identities of other assemblies connected with the application. So yes you can have same assembly names in the same folder as long as one of the four variables above are different.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I can only guess but perhaps it is possible if the folder is not a real folder.

Microsoft Interview Question - Two dll with same name, same version, same strong key can be placed in a folder ?