Operator Overloading
C++ operators that can be overloaded:
+ - * / % ^ & |
~ ! = < > += -= *=
/= %= ^= &= |= << >> >>=
<<= == != <= >= && || ++
-- ->* , -> [] () new delete
new[] delete[]
C++ operators that cannot be overloaded:
. .* :: ?:
Operator overloading is an important concept in C++. It is a type of polymorphism in which an
operator is overloaded to give user defined meaning to it. Overloaded operator is used to perform
operation on user-defined data type. For example '+' operator can be overloaded to perform
addition on various data types, like for Integer, String(concatenation) etc.
Almost any operator can be overloaded in C++. However there are few operator which can not
be overloaded. Operator that are not overloaded are follows
scope operator - ::
sizeof
member selector - .
member pointer selector - *
ternary operator - ?:
Operator Overloading Syntax
Implementing Operator Overloading
Operator overloading can be done by implementing a function which can be :
1. Member Function
2. Non-Member Function
3. Friend Function
Operator overloading function can be a member function if the Left operand is an Object of that
class, but if the Left operand is different, then Operator overloading function must be a non-
member function.
Operator overloading function can be made friend function if it needs access to the private and
protected members of class.
Restrictions on Operator Overloading
Following are some restrictions to be kept in mind while implementing operator overloading.
1. Precedence and Associativity of an operator cannot be changed.
2. Arity (numbers of Operands) cannot be changed. Unary operator remains unary, binary
remains binary etc.
3. No new operators can be created, only existing operators can be overloaded.
4. Cannot redefine the meaning of a procedure. You cannot change how integers are added.
Operator Overloading Examples
Almost all the operators can be overloaded in infinite different ways. Following are some
examples to learn more about operator overloading. All the examples are closely connected.
Overloading Arithmetic Operator
Arithmetic operator are most commonly used operator in C++. Almost all arithmetic operator
can be overloaded to perform arithmetic operation on user-defined data type. In the below
example we have overridden the + operator, to add to Time(hh:mm:ss) objects.
Example: overloading '+' Operator to add two time object
#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
class time
{
inth,m,s;
public:
time()
{
h=0, m=0; s=0;
}
voidgetTime();
void show()
{
cout<< h<< ":"<< m<< ":"<< s;
}
time operator+(time);//overloading '+' operator
};
time time::operator+(time t1) //operator function
{
time t;
inta,b;
a=s+t1.s;
t.s=a%60;
b=(a/60)+m+t1.m;
t.m=b%60;
t.h=(b/60)+h+t1.h;
t.h=t.h%12;
return t;
}
void time::getTime()
{
cout<<"\n Enter the hour(0-11) ";
cin>>h;
cout<<"\n Enter the minute(0-59) ";
cin>>m;
cout<<"\n Enter the second(0-59) ";
cin>>s;
}
void main()
{
clrscr();
time t1,t2,t3;
cout<<"\n Enter the first time ";
t1.getTime();
cout<<"\n Enter the second time ";
t2.getTime();
t3=t1+t2; //adding of two time object using '+' operator
cout<<"\n First time ";
t1.show();
cout<<"\n Second time ";
t2.show();
cout<<"\n Sum of times ";
t3.show();
getch();
}
Overloading I/O operator
Overloaded to perform input/output for user defined datatypes.
Left Operand will be of types ostream& and istream&
Function overloading this operator must be a Non-Member function because left operand
is not an Object of the class.
It must be a friend function to access private data members.
You have seen above that <<operator is overloaded with ostream class object cout to print
primitive type value output to the screen. Similarly you can overload <<operator in your class to
print user-defined type to screen. For example we will overload <<in time class to display time
object using cout.
time t1(3,15,48);
cout<< t1;
NOTE: When the operator does not modify its operands, the best way to overload the operator is
via friend function.
Example: overloading '<<' Operator to print time object
#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
class time
{
inthr,min,sec;
public:
time()
{
hr=0, min=0; sec=0;
}
time(int h,int m, int s)
{
hr=h, min=m; sec=s;
}
friendostream& operator << (ostream&out, time &tm); //overloading '<<'
operator
};
ostream& operator<< (ostream&out, time &tm) //operator function
{
out<< "Time is " << tm.hr << "hour : " << tm.min << "min : " << tm.sec <<
"sec";
return out;
}
void main()
{
time tm(3,15,45);
cout<< tm;
}
Output
Time is 3 hour : 15 min : 45 sec
Overloading Relational operator
You can also overload Relational operator like == ,!= , >= , <= etc. to compare two user-
defined object.
Example
class time
{
inthr,min,sec;
public:
time()
{
hr=0, min=0; sec=0;
}
time(int h,int m, int s)
{
hr=h, min=m; sec=s;
}
friend bool operator==(time &t1, time &t2);//overloading '==' operator
};
bool operator== (time &t1, time &t2) //operator function
{
return ( t1.hr == t2.hr &&
t1.min == t2.min &&
t1.sec == t2.sec );
}
Default Copy constructor
Assignment operator is used to copy the values from one object to another already existing
object. It is present in all classes by default. For example
time tm(3,15,45); //tm object created and initialized
time t1(tm); OR //t1 object created initialized using tm
t1 = tm; //initializing t1 using tm
Copy constructor is a special constructor that initializes a new object from an existing object.
#include<iostream>
usingnamespace std;
classDistance
{
private:
int feet;// 0 to infinite
int inches;// 0 to 12
public:
// required constructors
Distance(){
feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(int f,inti){
feet= f;
inches=i;
}
// method to display distance
voiddisplayDistance()
{
cout<<"F: "<< feet <<" I:"<< inches <<endl;
}
// overloaded minus (-) operator
Distanceoperator-()
{
feet=-feet;
inches=-inches;
returnDistance(feet, inches);
}
// overloaded < operator
booloperator<(constDistance& d)
{
if(feet <d.feet)
{
returntrue;
}
if(feet ==d.feet&& inches <d.inches)
{
returntrue;
}
returnfalse;
}
};
int main()
{
DistanceD1(11,10), D2(5,11);
if( D1 < D2 )
{
cout<<"D1 is less than D2 "<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<"D2 is less than D1 "<<endl;
}
return0;
}
