Question

I am learning C++ and I was wondering if I could gain some insight into the preferred way of creating binary operators that work on instances of two different types. Here is an example that I’ve made to illustrate my concerns:

class A;
class B;

class A
{
    private:
        int x;

    public:
        A(int x);

        int getX() const;

        int operator + (const B& b);
};


class B
{
    private:
        int x;

    public:
        B(int x);

        int getX() const;

        int operator + (const A& A);
};


A::A(int x) : x(x) {}

int A::getX() const { return x; }

// Method 1
int A::operator + (const B& b) { return getX() + b.getX(); }


B::B(int x) : x(x) {}

int B::getX() const { return x; }

// Method 1
int B::operator + (const A& a) { return getX() + a.getX(); }


// Method 2
int operator + (const A& a, const B& b) { return a.getX() + b.getX(); }

int operator + (const B& b, const A& a) { return a.getX() + b.getX(); }


#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    A a(2);
    B b(2);

    cout << a + b << endl;

    return 0;
};

If I would like to have symmetry among the two types, which method is the best approach in the above code. Are there any possible dangers in choosing one method over the other? Does this vary with the return type? Please explain! Thank you!

Answer 1

The best way is to define (outside of either class) int operator+ (const A& a, const B& b), and make it a friend function of both classes if needed. In addition, define

int operator+(const B& b, const A& a) {return a + b;}

To make it symmetric.