Member Avatar for bigsurya

Why do we overload operators ? Is it possible to add/subtract objects of a class without using overloaded '+' operator ?

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 93 Views
  • 6 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Narue
Member Avatar for Narue

>Why do we overload operators ?
Syntactic sugar. It all becomes clear when you think about a case where the overload is vastly less awkward than the alternative:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

int main()
{
  std::string hello = "Hello";
  std::string world = "world";

  // With overloaded << operator
  std::cout<< hello <<" "<< world <<"!"<< std::endl;

  // Without overloaded << operator
  std::endl (
    std::cout.write ( hello.c_str(), 5 )
             .write ( " ", 1 )
             .write ( world.c_str(), 5 )
             .write ( "!", 1 ) );
}

>Is it possible to add/subtract objects of a class without using overloaded '+' operator ?
Sure, if the class supports the operation. You can write add and subtract member functions just as easily as operator+ and operator- .

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.