Overloading Restrictions
Most C++ operators (see Table 11.1) can be overloaded in the manner described in the preceding section. Overloaded operators (with some exceptions) don’t necessarily have to be member functions. However, at least one of the operands has to be a user-defined type. Let’s take a closer look at the limits C++ imposes on user-defined operator overloading:
• The overloaded operator must have at least one operand that is a user-defined type. This prevents you from overloading operators for the standard types. Thus, you can’t redefine the minus operator (-) so that it yields the sum of two double values instead of their difference. This restriction preserves program sanity, although it may hinder creative accounting.
• You can’t ...
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