Overloading the Subscript Operator [] in C++
C++ Overloaded Operators and Overloaded Functions
The subscript operator [] is typically used to access array elements. Overloading this operator enhances the functionality of manipulating C++ arrays.
The following example demonstrates how to overload the subscript operator [].
Example
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
const int SIZE = 10;
class safearay
{
private:
int arr[SIZE];
public:
safearay()
{
register int i;
for(i = 0; i < SIZE; i++)
{
arr[i] = i;
}
}
int& operator[](int i)
{
if( i >= SIZE )
{
cout << "Index out of bounds" <<endl;
// Return the first element
return arr[0];
}
return arr[i];
}
};
int main()
{
safearay A;
cout << "Value of A[2] : " << A[2] <<endl;
cout << "Value of A[5] : " << A[5]<<endl;
cout << "Value of A[12] : " << A[12]<<endl;
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
$ g++ -o test test.cpp
$ ./test
Value of A[2] : 2
Value of A[5] : 5
Value of A[12] : Index out of bounds
0