Operator overloading

Definition

Operator overloading allows custom behavior for standard operators like +, -, *, and /. It enables these operators to work with user-defined objects in a way that is intuitive and consistent with their behavior on built-in types.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Operator overloading is implemented by defining special methods in a class such as __add__, __sub__, __mul__, and __truediv__.
2. The __str__ and __repr__ methods can be overloaded to control how objects are represented as strings.
3. Not all operators can be overloaded; for example, the assignment operator '=' cannot be overloaded.
4. Overloaded operators should perform operations that are logical and predictable to avoid confusion.
5. Using operator overloading can make code more readable by allowing objects to interact using standard arithmetic or comparison symbols.

Review Questions

• Which special method would you define to overload the addition operator (+) in a Python class?
• Why is it important for overloaded operators to perform logical and predictable operations?
• Can the assignment operator '=' be overloaded in Python? Explain why or why not.

Related terms

__init__: __init__ is a special method used to initialize newly created objects. It is called automatically when an instance of a class is created.

__str__: __str__ is a special method used to return a string representation of an object. It is called by the str() function and print statements.

__repr__: __repr__ is a special method used to return an unambiguous string representation of an object, often one that could be used to recreate the object. It is called by the repr() function.