Overloading the comparison operators is simple once you’ve learned how to overload the arithmetic operators.
Because the comparison operators are all binary operators that do not modify their operands, we will make our overloaded comparison operators friend functions.
Here’s an example Point class from the previous lesson with an overloaded operator== and operator!=.
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class Point { private: double m_dX, m_dY, m_dZ; public: Point(double dX=0.0, double dY=0.0, double dZ=0.0) { m_dX = dX; m_dY = dY; m_dZ = dZ; } friend bool operator== (Point &cP1, Point &cP2); friend bool operator!= (Point &cP1, Point &cP2); double GetX() { return m_dX; } double GetY() { return m_dY; } double GetZ() { return m_dZ; } }; bool operator== (Point &cP1, Point &cP2) { return (cP1.m_dX == cP2.m_dX && cP1.m_dY == cP2.m_dY && cP1.m_dZ == cP2.m_dZ); } bool operator!= (Point &cP1, Point &cP2) { return !(cP1 == cP2); } |
The code here should be straightforward. Because the result of operator!= is the opposite of operator==, we define operator!= in terms of operator==, which helps keep things simpler, more error free, and reduces the amount of code we have to write.
It doesn’t really make sense to overload operator> or operator< for the Point class. What does it mean for a 3d point to be greater or less than another point? Greater than or less than isn't a concept we normally apply to 3d points, so it's better not to include those operators in the Point class, because the results of the operators (whatever you define them to be) would not be intuitive. Here's a different example with an overloaded operator>, operator<, operator>=, and operator<=:
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class Cents { private: int m_nCents; public: Cents(int nCents) { m_nCents = nCents; } friend bool operator> (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2); friend bool operator<= (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2); friend bool operator< (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2); friend bool operator>= (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2); }; bool operator> (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2) { return cC1.m_nCents > cC2.m_nCents; } bool operator<= (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2) { return cC1.m_nCents <= cC2.m_nCents; } bool operator< (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2) { return cC1.m_nCents < cC2.m_nCents; } bool operator>= (Cents &cC1, Cents &cC2) { return cC1.m_nCents >= cC2.m_nCents; } |
This is also pretty straightforward. Note that there is some redundancy here as well. operator> and operator<= are logical opposites, so one could be defined in terms of the other. operator< and operator>= are also logical opposites, and one could be defined in terms of the other. In this case, I chose not to do so because the function definitions are so simple, and the comparison operator in the function name line up nicely with the comparison operator in the return statement.
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wonderful tutorial by MR.ALEX
int main()
{
using namespace std;
Cents a(80);
Cents b(100);
if (a > b)
cout << "A is GREATER THAN B";
else
cout << "B is GREATER THAN A" << endl;
cout << "===================================" << endl;
Cents x(80);
Cents y(78);
if (x <= y)
cout << "X is LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO Y";
else
cout << "Y is LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO X" << endl;
cout << "===================================" << endl;
Cents ict1(80);
Cents ict2(200);
if (ict1 < ict2)
cout << "ICT1 is LESS THAN ICT2" <<endl;
else
cout << "ICT2 is LESS THAN ICT1" << endl;
cout << "===================================" <= ict4)
cout << "ICT3 is GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO ICT4";
else
cout << "ICT4 is GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO ICT3";
cin.get();
return 0;
// working okay by ifycent2 de ict
}
Wouldn't the functions in the first example always return wrong result due to small rounding errors in double comparison?
Great tutorial as usual. Just as an idea the < and > operators could be used to compare the magnitude of the vector from the origin to the point in the Point class.
Shouldn't all of the arguments to the operator overload functions be const?
Yes, you're right, I think. If they aren't const, then those operators can't be used on const variables even though there is no real reason they shouldn't, since they don't actually change the variable values.
thanks Alex very mutch i love you totorile
simple &easy
Could you make an example to show how you can use one of the overloaded operators?
Sure.
operator> is defined twice; operator< is missing.
[ Fixed! -Alex ]