CPP Operator Overloading & Type Conversions 2

Question 1

What is the correct member function signature for overloading the less-than operator for class T?

Accepted Answer

bool operator<(const T& other) const

Answer

`bool operator<(const T& other) const` is correct — it returns bool, accepts a const reference to avoid copying, and is const-qualified since comparison does not modify the object.

Question 2

What is a conversion operator in C++?

Accepted Answer

A member function that converts an object to another type

Answer

A conversion operator (e.g., `operator int() const`) is a member function that defines how an object is implicitly or explicitly converted to another type.

Question 3

Why is it often preferable to implement a symmetric binary operator (like +) as a non-member function?

Accepted Answer

It allows implicit conversions on the left-hand operand as well

Answer

Non-member operators allow the compiler to apply implicit conversions to both operands, including the left-hand side, which member functions cannot support.

Question 4

For const-correctness, what does a class typically need to provide when overloading operator[]?

Accepted Answer

Both const and non-const versions

Answer

Both a non-const version (returning T&) for modification and a const version (returning const T&) for read-only access are typically needed.

Question 5

What are user-defined literals in C++?

Accepted Answer

Operators that define custom suffixes for literal values

Answer

User-defined literals let you overload `operator""` with a custom suffix (e.g., `42_km`) to return user-defined types from literal expressions.

(CPP) C++ Programming Professional Certificate Practice Test

(CPP) C++ Programming Professional Certificate Practice Test

CPP Operator Overloading & Type Conversions 2