Why should the assignment operator return a reference to the object?

by

The usual form returns a reference to the target object to allow assignment chaining. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to do:

Foo a, b, c;
// ...
a = b = c;

Still, keep in mind that getting right the assigment operator is tougher than it might seem.

More Related Contents:

  1. Why must the copy assignment operator return a reference/const reference?
  2. Why cannot a non-member function be used for overloading the assignment operator?
  3. Overloading assignment operator in C++
  4. C++ why the assignment operator should return a const ref in order to avoid (a=b)=c
  5. New to programming: How to call a structure’s variables in a function and then update them? (C++) [closed]
  6. Does my overload of operator
  7. What is The Rule of Three?
  8. Operator overloading : member function vs. non-member function?
  9. virtual assignment operator C++
  10. When to Overload the Comma Operator?
  11. Making operator
  12. Using assignment as a condition expression?
  13. Placement new and assignment of class with const member
  14. Operator Overloading in C++ as int + obj
  15. Simplest way to determine return type of function
  16. How do I prevent a class from being allocated via the ‘new’ operator? (I’d like to ensure my RAII class is always allocated on the stack.)
  17. C++ template friend operator overloading
  18. operator= and functions that are not inherited in C++?
  19. difference between global operator and member operator
  20. Return Type Covariance with Smart Pointers
  21. What does “operator = must be a non-static member” mean?
  22. Using `std::function` to call non-void function
  23. Overload operators as member function or non-member (friend) function?
  24. What does an ampersand after this assignment operator mean?
  25. How could comma separated initialization such as in Eigen be possibly implemented in C++?
  26. Where should non-member operator overloads be placed?
  27. Template assignment operator overloading mystery
  28. How can it be useful to overload the “function call” operator?
  29. How to overload operator==() for a pointer to the class?
  30. friend declaration declares a non-template function [duplicate]

Leave a Comment