Question

Assume a class named Bird exists. Write the header for a member function that overloads the \(=\) operator for that class.

Short answer

The assignment operator overloading is an essential tool for creating user-defined classes and managing resources efficiently. When designing a class called Bird, it is necessary to overload the assignment operator, which will help copy data from one object to another correctly. The header for this member function in the Bird class should be: ```cpp Bird& operator=(const Bird& rhs); ``` This member function returns a reference to a Bird object and takes a constant reference to another Bird object as its parameter.

Step-by-step solution

Identifying the class and function name

Since we are working with a class named Bird, the function will be a member of this class. The function name will be the same as the assignment operator, which is "operator=" in C++.

Determining the return type and parameters

The return type of the overloaded assignment operator should be a reference to the class itself (in this case, Bird). The function should take a constant reference to the class object as its only parameter (the right-hand side object). Putting it all together, here's the header for the member function that overloads the assignment operator in the Bird class: ```cpp Bird& operator=(const Bird& rhs); ```