Why some operators like :: , .* , ? : can not be overloaded in C++ ?

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I understood the concept of overloading , but I am not clear why some operators can not be overloaded .I did not get any clear answer of it.

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I understood the concept of overloading , but I am not clear why some operators can not be overloaded .I did not get any clear answer of it.

Posted 16-Oct-16 5:33am

ROBIN KUMAR

Updated 18-Oct-16 21:14pm

OriginalGriff

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Richard MacCutchan 16-Oct-16 11:49am

Because those are the rules of the language. You can read the full explanation in any of the published documentation.

ROBIN KUMAR 16-Oct-16 14:30pm

thanks..

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OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2016-10-16T05:56:00

:: can't be overloaded because it is the scope qualifier (or name resolution) operator - it specifies a class and namespace name and it's not available at a class level because it helps to specify which class you are referring to.

Similarly, "." and "*" can't be overloaded because they specify access, not an operation per se. Dot specifies a member of a class, and star is a pointer resolution operator.

?: can't be overridden because it isn't really an operator: it's syntactic sugar for an if...then...else statement that returns a value.

Stefan_Lang · Answer 2 · 2016-10-18T21:14:00

As a general answer, for "some" of these operators, overloading isn't entirely unthinkable, but Stroustrup and the C++ committee didn't see a meaningful use for them, while potentially introducing ambiguities or unexpected side effects.

(Personally, I think it's a shame that the only ternary operator, '?:' can't be overloaded - I'm sure I could find a use for that ;-) )

See C++ Programming/Operators/Operator Overloading - Wikibooks, open books for an open world[^] and Stroustrup: C++ Style and Technique FAQ: Why can't I overload ...[^]

Why some operators like :: , .* , ? : can not be overloaded in C++ ?

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