Easy Tutorial
❮ Cpp Examples Data Types Cpp If Else ❯

C++ Input/Output Operator Overloading

C++ Overloaded Operators and Overloaded Functions

C++ allows the use of the stream extraction operator >> and the stream insertion operator << to input and output built-in data types. You can overload these operators to manipulate user-defined data types such as objects.

It is important to note that we need to declare the operator overloading function as a friend function of the class so that we can call the function directly without creating an object.

The following example demonstrates how to overload the extraction operator >> and the insertion operator <<.

Example

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Distance
{
   private:
      int feet;             // 0 to infinity
      int inches;           // 0 to 12
   public:
      // Required constructor
      Distance(){
         feet = 0;
         inches = 0;
      }
      Distance(int f, int i){
         feet = f;
         inches = i;
      }
      friend ostream &operator<<( ostream &output, 
                                       const Distance &D )
      { 
         output << "F : " << D.feet << " I : " << D.inches;
         return output;            
      }

      friend istream &operator>>( istream  &input, Distance &D )
      { 
         input >> D.feet >> D.inches;
         return input;            
      }
};
int main()
{
   Distance D1(11, 10), D2(5, 11), D3;

   cout << "Enter the value of object : " << endl;
   cin >> D3;
   cout << "First Distance : " << D1 << endl;
   cout << "Second Distance :" << D2 << endl;
   cout << "Third Distance :" << D3 << endl;

   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

$./a.out
Enter the value of object :
70
10
First Distance : F : 11 I : 10
Second Distance :F : 5 I : 11
Third Distance :F : 70 I : 10

C++ Overloaded Operators and Overloaded Functions

❮ Cpp Examples Data Types Cpp If Else ❯