Object

Oriented
Programming
Using

C ++
Operator Overloading

Abdul Wahab
Lecturer
University of Science and Technology Bannu
abdul_bu@yahoo.com
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 Operator Overloading

 An operator is a symbol that indicates an operation.

 Normally, it is used to perform operation with constants and variables of

basic data types.

 If we use these operators with objects, compiler will display an error.

 C++ has a mechanism to redefine an operator to work with user-defined

data types, which is called operator overloading.

 Redefining an operator does not change its natural meaning.

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 Example:

class Num{ void main()

public: {
int x, y; clrscr();
Num() { }
Num(int j, int k) Num A(2,3), B(4,5), C;
{ A.show(); B.show();
x=j; y=k;
} //C = A + B; //Error
C.x = A.x + B.x;
void show() C.y= A.y + B.y;
{
cout<<“X=“<<x<<“ Y=“<<y; C.show();
} }
};

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 The Keyword ‘Operator’
 The keyword „operator‟ defines a new action or operation to the operator.

Syntax:

return_type operator operator_symbol (argument)

{
statement (s);
}

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 Overloading Unary Operator
class Num {
private:
void main()
int a, b, c;
{
public: clrscr();
Num() { }
Num(int j, int k, int m)
{ Num X(3, 2, 5);
a=j; b=k; c=m; cout<<“Before Increment :”;
}
X.show();
void operator ++ ( ) ++X;
{
++a; ++b; ++c;
} cout<<“After Increment :”;
X.show();
void show() }
{
cout<<“A=“<<a<<“ B=“<<b<<“ C=“<<c;
}
};

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Constraints on Increment and Decrement Operators

 When ( -- / ++ ) operator is used as prefix with object, its value is

incremented / decremented before operation.

 When it is used as postfix, the value of the variable is incremented/

decremented after it is used.

 (-- / ++) operator overloaded for prefix operation works for both prefix and
postfix operations but with a warning massage.

 To make a distinction between prefix and postfix notation of operator, a

new syntax is used to indicate postfix operator overloaded function.

operator ++( int ); // Postfix Notation

operator ++( ); // Prefix Notation

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 Example:
class Num { void main()
private: {
int a;
clrscr();
public: Num N(3);
Num(int j) cout<<“Before Increment: ”
{ N.show();
a=j;
}
cout<<“After Increment: ”
void operator ++ (int) // for Postfix N++;
{ a++; } N.show();

void operator -- ( ) // for Pretfix cout<<“After Decrement: ”

{ --a; }
--N
void show() N.show();
{ cout<<“A=“<<a; } }
};

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 Operator Return Type
 In the last program, the statement like X= ++Y; (X and Y being object of
Num) will cause error, because operator ++() have void type, while
assignment statement it is being asked to return a variable of type Num.

 That is the compiler is being asked to return whatever value Y has after
being operated on by the ++ operator and assign this value to X.

 As ++ operator is not overloaded for basic data types, and is only

overloaded for user-defined data types, so the return type will also be the
user-defined data type.

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 Example:
class Plusplus { void main()
private: {
int a; clrscr();
Plusplus X, Y;
public: cout<< "\n X= "<<X.getA();
Plusplus () { a=0; }
cout<< "\n Y= "<<Y.getA();
int getA() { return a; }

X = ++Y;
Plusplus operator ++ ()
{ cout<< "\n X= "<<X.getA();
Plusplus temp; cout<< "\n Y= "<<Y.getA();
a = a + 1; X++;
temp.a=a;
return temp; cout<< "\n X= "<<X.getA();
} cout<< "\n Y= "<<Y.getA();
}; }

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 Output

X=0
Y=0
X=1
Y=1
X=2
Y=1

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 Overloading Binary Operators
Using Member Function

 Overloading operator using member function require one argument that

contains the value of the object, which is to the right of the operator.

 To call function operator the statement is as follow:

Obj3 = Obj1 + Obj2;

 Member function can be called using object of that class, the above
statement can also be written as:
Obj3 = Obj1.operator + ( Obj2 ) ;

 Data members of Obj1 are passed directly, while data members of Obj2
are passed as an argument.

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 Example:
class Sample void show()
{ { cout<<"A= "<<a<<" B= "<<b<<endl;
int a; }
int b;
};
public:
Sample()
{ a=0; b=0; } void main()
{
Sample(int k, int l) clrscr();
{ a=k; b=l; }
Sample A(2, 3);
Sample operator + (Sample ob) Sample B(5, 7);
{ Sample C;
Sample tmp;
tmp.a = a + ob.a; C=A + B;
tmp.b = b + ob.b;
return tmp;
} A.show();
B.show();
C.show();
}

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 Overloading Binary Operators
Using Friend Function

 Friend functions can also be used to overload binary operators.

 The friend functions requires two arguments.

 Friend function are useful when we require performing an operation of

two different types. Consider the statements:
X = Y + 5;
X = 3 + Y; // X & Y are objects of same class

 This problem can be overcome by using friend function, in which

standard data type can be used as left-hand operand and object as right-
hand operand.

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 Example:
class Num {
private: Num operator * (int a, Num t)
int a, b, c; {
Num temp;
public: temp.a = a * t.a;
void input()
temp.b = a * t.b;
{
temp.c = a * t.c;
cout<<"\n Enter values for A, B and C: ";
cin>>a>>b>>c;
} return (temp);
}
void show()
{
cout<<"A= "<<a<<" B= "<<b<<" C= "<<c;
}
friend Num operator * (int, Num);
};

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 Example: (Contd…)
void main()
{
clrscr();

Num X, Z;

cout<<"\n Object X: ";

X.input();

Z = 3 * X;

cout<<"\n X: ";
X.show();
cout<<"\n Z: ";
Z.show();
}

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 Output

Object X:
Enter values for A, B and C: 2 3 4
X: A=2 B=3 C=4
Z: A=6 B=9 C=16

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 Non Overloadable operators

Operator Description
. Member operator
.* Pointer to Member operator
:: Scope Access operator
?: Conditional operator
Sizeof() Size of operator
# and ## Preprocessor symbols

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Non Overloadable operators with Friend Function

Operator Description
() Function call delimiter
= Assignment operator
[] Subscripting operator
-> Class Member Access operator

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Have a Good Day!