Overloading & operator overloading

Ben Langmead
[email protected]
www.langmead-lab.org

Source markdown available at github.com/BenLangmead/c-cpp-notes

1
Overloading & operator overloading

C++ compiler can distinguish functions with same name but

different parameters

#include <iostream>

using std::cout; using std::endl;

void output_type(int) { cout << "int" << endl; }

void output_type(float) { cout << "float" << endl; }

int main() {
output_type(1); // int argument
output_type(1.f); // float argument
return 0;
}

2
Overloading

$ g++ -c print_type.cpp -std=c++11 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra

$ g++ -o print_type print_type.o
$ ./print_type
int
float

But it cannot distinguish functions with same name & parameters

but different return types

3
Overloading

#include <iostream>

using std::cout; using std::endl;

int get_one() { return 1; }

float get_one() { return 1.0f; }

int main() {
int i = get_one();
float f = get_one();
cout << i << ' ' << f << endl;
return 0;
}

4
Overloading

$ g++ -c print_type.cpp -std=c++11 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra

print_type.cpp: In function 'float get_one()':
print_type.cpp:6:7: error: ambiguating new declaration of 'float get_one()'
float get_one() { return 1.0f; }
^~~~~~~
print_type.cpp:5:7: note: old declaration 'int get_one()'
int get_one() { return 1; }
^~~~~~~

5
Operator overloading

Operators like + and << are like functions

a + b is like plus(a, b) or a.plus(b)
a + b + c is like plus(plus(a, b), c)

6
Operator overloading

classes override member functions to customize their behavior

Operator overloading is when we do something similar for operators
We’ve been using it:

string msg("Hello"), name;

cin >> name; // >> is an operator
cout << msg << ", "; // << is an operator
cout << (name + '!') << endl; // << and + are operators

7
Operator overloading

cout << works with many types, but not all:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

using std::cout; using std::endl;

using std::vector;

int main() {
vector<int> vec = {1, 2, 3};
cout << vec << endl;
return 0;
}

8
Operator overloading

$ g++ -c insertion_eg1.cpp -std=c++11 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra

insertion_eg1.cpp: In function 'int main()':
insertion_eg1.cpp:9:10: error: no match for 'operator<<' (operand types are
'std::ostream {aka std::basic_ostream<char>}' and 'std::vector<int>')
cout << vec << endl;
~~~~~^~~~~~
In file included from /usr/include/c++/7/iostream:39:0,
from insertion_eg1.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/7/ostream:108:7: note: candidate: std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::__ostream_type& std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::operator<<(std::basic_ostream<_CharT, _Traits>::__ostream_type&
(*)(std::basic_ostream<_CharT, _Traits>::__ostream_type&)) [with _CharT = char;
_Traits = std::char_traits<char>; std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::__ostream_type = std::basic_ostream<char>]
operator<<(__ostream_type& (*__pf)(__ostream_type&))
^~~~~~~~
/usr/include/c++/7/ostream:108:7: note: no known conversion for argument 1
from 'std::vector<int>' to 'std::basic_ostream<char>::__ostream_type&
(*)(std::basic_ostream<char>::__ostream_type&) {aka std::basic_ostream<char>&
(*)(std::basic_ostream<char>&)}'
/usr/include/c++/7/ostream:117:7: note: candidate: std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::__ostream_type& std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::operator<<(std::basic_ostream<_CharT, _Traits>::__ios_type&
(*)(std::basic_ostream<_CharT, _Traits>::__ios_type&)) [with _CharT = char;
_Traits = std::char_traits<char>; std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::__ostream_type = std::basic_ostream<char>; std::basic_ostream<_CharT,
_Traits>::__ios_type = std::basic_ios<char>]
operator<<(__ios_type& (*__pf)(__ios_type&)) 9
^~~~~~~~
Operator overloading

We can make it work by defining the appropriate operator overload:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

using std::cout; using std::endl;

using std::vector;

std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const vector<int>& vec) {

for(vector<int>::const_iterator it = vec.cbegin();
it != vec.cend(); ++it)
{
os << *it << ' ';
}
return os;
}

int main() {
const vector<int> vec = {1, 2, 3};
cout << vec << endl; // now this will work!
return 0;
}

10
Operator overloading

$ g++ -c insertion_eg2.cpp -std=c++11 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra

$ g++ -o insertion_eg2 insertion_eg2.o
$ ./insertion_eg2
1 2 3

11
Operator overloading

std::ostream is a C++ output stream

Can write to it, can’t read from it
It is cout’s type

• cout can be passed as parameter of type std::ostream& os

• const std::ostream& won’t work, since it disallows writing

12
Operator overloading

When we see this:

cout << "Hello " << 1 << ' ' << 2;

This is what really happens:

operator<<(
operator<<(
operator<<(
operator<<(cout, "Hello"), 1), ' '), 2)

• First, we cout << "Hello"

• That returns cout, which becomes the new left operand
• Then we cout << 1, returning cout as new left operand
• Then we cout << ' ', returning cout
• ...
13
Operator overloading

std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const vector<int>& vec) {

for(vector<int>::const_iterator it = vec.cbegin();
it != vec.cend(); ++it)
{
os << *it << ' ';
}
return os;
}

Allows vector<int> to appear in a typical cout << chain

• Taking std::ostream& os in 1st parameter & returning os

enables chaining
• Taking const vector<int>& as 2nd parameter allows
vector<int> to appear as ight operand in operator<< call
• Passing by const reference avoids needless copying
14
Operator overloading

Can also overload operator with a member function

class Complex {
public:
Complex(double r, double i) : real(r), imaginary(i) { }

Complex operator+(const Complex& rhs) const {

// left operand is the current object ("myself")
// right operand is rhs
// return value is a new Complex
Complex result(real + rhs.real, imaginary + rhs.imaginary);
return result; // Note: return type can't be `Complex&`
}

private:
double real, imaginary;
};
15
Operator overloading

Say we want to be able to print a Complex with cout <<

class Complex {
public:
...
private:
double real, imaginary;
};

Would this work?

std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const Complex& d) {

os << d.real << " + " << d.imaginary + "i";
return os;
}

16
Operator overloading

No, because real & imaginary are private

Can we make operator<< be a member function for Complex?
No; operator<< takes std::ostream as left operand, but a
member function has to take the object itself as left operand

17
Operator overloading

Can’t be a member, but also needs access to private members??

Solution: a friend function:

class Complex {
public:
...

friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, Complex c);

private:
double real, imaginary;
};

std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, Complex c) {

os << c.real << " + " << c.imaginary << 'i';
return os;
}

18
Operator overloading

operator<< is a separate, non-member function

It is also a friend of Complex, as declared here:

class Complex {
public:
...
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, Complex c);
...
};

A friend of a class can access its private members

• Like a “backstage pass”

19
Operator overloading

Same-class
Derived-class members &
Access modifier Any function members friends

public Yes Yes Yes

protected No Yes Yes
private No No Yes

Often, friend is to be avoided, and signals bad design

A common exception is when operator<< must access private fields

20
Operator overloading

When using a member function to overload an operator, sometimes

the return value is “myself”
E.g. consider the += compound operator

int c = 0;
c += (c += 2);

Recall that the result of an assignment (including compound

assignment) is the value assigned
Here, (c += 2) both sets c to 2 and evaluates to 2
Then outer c += (...) sets c to 4

21
Operator overloading

Now for Complex:

Complex c(0.0, 0.0);

c += (c += Complex(2.0, 2.0));

22
Operator overloading

Can return “myself” by returning *this from operator+= as below

Member functions have implicit pointer argument this: a pointer
to “myself,” the current object

class Complex {
public:
...
Complex operator+=(const Complex& rhs) {
real += rhs.real;
imaginary += rhs.imaginary;
return *this;
}
...
};

23
Operator overloading

Operators we can overload:

+ - * / % ^ & | ~
! -> = < > <= >= ++ --
<< >> == != && || += -= /=
%= ^= &= |= *= <<= >>= [] ()

These are common:

• +, -, +=, -= (e.g. Complex)

• *, -> (e.g. iterators)
• [ ] (e.g. vector)
• = (most things that can be copied)
• ==, <, >, <=, >= (things that can be compared)

24
Operator overloading

Overloading allowed only when one or both operands are a

user-defined type, like a class
This won’t work (thank goodness):

int operator+(int a, int b) {

return a - b;
}

Can’t change operator’s precedence, associativity, or # operands

25
Operator overloading

To allow Date to work with std::sort, we only have to add

operator<:

class Date {
public:
...
bool operator<(const Date& rhs) const {
if(year < rhs.year) return true;
if(year > rhs.year) return false;
if(month < rhs.month) return true;
if(month > rhs.month) return false;
return day < rhs.day;
}
...
};

26