Jan 3, 2016 · I just did a quiz for my programming class and got this question wrong: The return type of the function to overload the operator << must be a reference to an ostream object.

Feb 5, 2025 · New operators such as **, <>, or &| cannot be created. It is not possible to change the precedence, grouping, or number of operands of operators. The overload of operator -> must either …

Output streams use the insertion (<<) operator for standard types. You can also overload the << operator for your own classes.

Jul 23, 2025 · In C++, operator overloading is the concept that allows us to redefine the behavior of the already existing operator for our class. C++ provides a special function called operator function that …

When you call an overloaded function or operator, the compiler determines the most appropriate definition to use, by comparing the argument types you have used to call the function or operator …

Nov 10, 2025 · So, by understanding operator overloading with its advantages and disadvantages, you can easily overload the operators in C++ without any confusion or error. This operator overloading …

The following table lists the most commonly-used operators you're legally allowed to overload in C++, along with any restrictions about how you should define the operator.

Avoid overloading the comma operator: x, y. The overloaded comma operator does not have the same ordering properties that it has when it is not overloaded, and that confuses users. Don’t overload an …

Note that operator<< should be defined to return an ostream (so that "chained" output, like: cout << L1 << endl will work). (It is returned by reference -- that's what the & means -- for efficiency.) Also note …

One of the nicest features of C++ OOP is that you can overload operators to handle objects of your classes (you can't do this in some other OOP-centric languages, like Java).