Assignment Operator Overloading in C++

February 8, 2023

What is assignment operator overloading in C++?

The assignment operator is a binary operator that is used to assign the value to the variables. It is represented by equal to symbol(=). It copies the right value into the left value i.e the value that is on the right side of equal to into the variable that is on the left side of equal to.

Overloading assignment operator in C++

Overloading assignment operator in C++ copies all values of one object to another object.
The object from which values are being copied is known as an instance variable.
A non-static member function should be used to overload the assignment operator.

The compiler generates the function to overload the assignment operator if the function is not written in the class. The overloading assignment operator can be used to create an object just like the copy constructor. If a new object does not have to be created before the copying occurs, the assignment operator is used, and if the object is created then the copy constructor will come into the picture. Below is a program to explain how the assignment operator overloading works.

C++ Introduction

History of C++

Structure of a C++ Program

String in C++

Program to check armstrong number or not

C++ program demonstrating assignment operator overloading

Run

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Length 
{
    private:
        int kmeter;            
        int meter;           

    public:

        Length() //default constructor 
        {
            kmeter = 0;
            meter = 0;
        }
        Length(int km, int m)  //overloaded constructor.
        {
            kmeter= km;
            meter = m;
        }
        void operator = (const Length &l) 
        { 
            kmeter = l.kmeter;
            meter = l.meter;
        }

        //method to display length.
        void displayLength() 
        {
            cout << kmeter << " Kms "<< meter << " meters" << endl;
        }
};

int main() 
{
    // Assigning by overloading contructor
    Length len1(1, 100);
    Length len2(2, 200);

    cout <<"Len1 length: "; 
    len1.displayLength();
   
    cout <<"Len2 length: "; 
    len2.displayLength();

    // overloading assignment operator to copy values
    len1 = len2;

    cout << "\nLen1 Length: "; 
    len1.displayLength();
    
    cout << "Len2 Length: "; 
    len2.displayLength();

    return 0;
}

Output:

Len1 length: 1 Kms 100 meters
Len2 length: 2 Kms 200 meters

Len1 Length: 2 Kms 200 meters
Len2 Length: 2 Kms 200 meters

Example 2

Run

// Program to overload assignment (=) operator to 
// copy height of Student 1 to Student 2
#include 
using namespace std;
 
class Height {
   private:
      int feet;             // 0 to infinite
      int inches;           // 0 to 12
      
   public:
      // required constructors
      Height() {
         feet = 0;
         inches = 0;
      }
      Height(int f, int i) {
         feet = f;
         inches = i;
      }
      void operator = (const Height &h) { 
         feet = h.feet;
         inches = h.inches;
      }
      
      // method to display height
      void displayDistance() {
         cout << feet <<  " feet " <<  inches << "inches " << endl;
      }
};

int main() {
    Height H1(6, 2), H2(5, 10);

    cout << "Student 1 Height : "; 
    H1.displayDistance();
   
    cout << "Student 2 Height : "; 
    H2.displayDistance();

    // use assignment operator
    H1 = H2;
    
    cout << endl;
    
    cout << "Student 1 Height : "; 
    H1.displayDistance();
   
    cout << "Student 2 Height : "; 
    H2.displayDistance();

   return 0;
}

Output

Student 1 Height : 6 feet 2inches 
Student 2 Height : 5 feet 10inches 

Student 1 Height : 5 feet 10inches 
Student 2 Height : 5 feet 10inches

Prime Course Trailer

Related Banners

Get PrepInsta Prime & get Access to all 200+ courses offered by PrepInsta in One Subscription

Get over 200+ course One Subscription

Courses like AI/ML, Cloud Computing, Ethical Hacking, C, C++, Java, Python, DSA (All Languages), Competitive Coding (All Languages), TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Amazon, DBMS, SQL and others