Has anyone ever heard of overloading an '+' operator and make it do subtraction.
Scott V.
Has anyone ever heard of overloading an '+' operator and make it do subtraction.
Scott V.
It can be done but it is probably not a good idea. The closest useful example of something similar is in the stl with reverse iterators whereby operator ++ applied to the iterator will actually move you backwards through the container.
Free the weed!! Class B to class C is not good enough!!
And the FAQ is here :- http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/smartfaq.cgi
Hmm...If I were you, I would just create two different statements, rather than try to overload '+'.
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It is a good practice to overload operators relative to their original function. If + adds in its original form then your overloaded version should be a derivative of adding not subtracting. Otherwise, your code will get very confusing very fast especially with classes. If you overload + to subtract relative to a class then:
No overload here:
int y=10;
int x=20;
int sum=x+y; //Adds
Overloaded + relative to Vector class.
Vector Vec1;
Vector Vec2;
Vector Sum=Vec1+Vec2; //Subtracts
As you can see it is not apparent from the code which version subtracts and which one adds. This is why the + relative to Vector should add and not subtract. It gives continuity and consistency to your operators.
Just because C++ gives us the power to abuse the operators
does not mean that we should. Imagine if someone else were to try to read your code and you had done this.
