title: What's the difference between a schema namespace and an assembly reference in WPF?
body: <p>Why is it that there are two kinds of references in xaml.</p>
  
  <p>One looks like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But mine look like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>xmlns:WPFToolKit="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Controls;assembly=WPFToolkit"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Why can't I do this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>xmlns:local="http://myschema.mydomain.com/MyControlNamespace
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Thanks to <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/7116/sixlettervariables">ixlettervariables</a> for the answer. Here's a detailed explanation <a href="http://codingcontext.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/consolidating-xaml-namespaces/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a></p>