Question

What is passed to the parameter of a class's operator= function?

Short answer

Answer: The parameter passed to a class's operator= function is an object of the same class type, representing the right-hand side of the assignment operation. This is used when implementing custom assignment behaviors for a class.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding operator= function and its usage

operator= is an assignment operator in C++ classes. It allows objects of the class type to be assigned to each other. By default, C++ provides a default implementation of this operator, which assigns the values of the members of the source object to the members of the destination object. However, it can be overridden to provide a custom assignment behavior if needed.

Overloading operator= function

The process of overriding the default assignment operator to provide custom behavior is called overloading. When overloading the operator= function, the following signature should be used: ```cpp ClassName& operator= (const ClassName& other); ``` Here, ClassName is the name of the class for which the operator is being overloaded, and `other` is the object being passed as a parameter to the operator= function. The function returns a reference to the current object, which allows for chain assignment (e.g. a = b = c).

Explaining the parameter of operator= function

The parameter passed to the operator= function is an object of the same class type. It represents the right-hand side of the assignment operation in the expression: ```cpp destinationObject = sourceObject; ``` In this case, `sourceObject` is the object being passed as the parameter for the operator= function, and `destinationObject` is the object on which the function is called.

Conclusion

In summary, the parameter passed to a class's operator= function is an object of the same class type, representing the right-hand side of the assignment operation. This allows the programmer to implement custom assignment behaviors for their class, if desired.