Assignment Operators Overloading in C++

You can overload the assignment operator (=) just as you can other operators and it can be used to create an object just like the copy constructor.

Following example explains how an assignment operator can be overloaded.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
class Distance {
   private:
      int feet;             // 0 to infinite
      int inches;           // 0 to 12
      
   public:
      // required constructors
      Distance() {
         feet = 0;
         inches = 0;
      }
      Distance(int f, int i) {
         feet = f;
         inches = i;
      }
      void operator = (const Distance &D ) { 
         feet = D.feet;
         inches = D.inches;
      }
      
      // method to display distance
      void displayDistance() {
         cout << "F: " << feet <<  " I:" <<  inches << endl;
      }
};

int main() {
   Distance D1(11, 10), D2(5, 11);

   cout << "First Distance : "; 
   D1.displayDistance();
   cout << "Second Distance :"; 
   D2.displayDistance();

   // use assignment operator
   D1 = D2;
   cout << "First Distance :"; 
   D1.displayDistance();

   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

First Distance : F: 11 I:10
Second Distance :F: 5 I:11
First Distance :F: 5 I:11