02/02/2022, 21:46 Operator Overloading - Learn Object-Oriented Programming in Python

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Operator Overloading
Learn about operator overloading in Python.

We'll cover the following

• Overloading operators in Python

• Overloading operators for a user-defined class

• Explanation
• Special functions for some common operators

Overloading operators in Python#

Operators in Python can be overloaded to operate in a certain user-
defined way. Whenever an operator is used in Python, its corresponding
method is invoked to perform its predefined function. For example, when
the + operator is called, it invokes the special function, __add__ , in
Python, but this operator acts differently for different data types. For
example, the + operator adds the numbers when it is used between two
int data types and merges two strings when it is used between string
data types.

Run the code below for the implementation of the + operator for integers
and strings.

1 print(5 + 3)  # adding integers using '+'
2 print("money" + "maker")  # merging strings using '+'
3

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Overloading operators for a user-

defined class#
When a class is defined, its objects can interact with each other through
the operators, but it is necessary to define the behavior of these operators
through operator overloading.

We are going to implement a class that represents a complex number.“ A

complex number consists of a real part and an imaginary part.

z  =  x  +  i y
complex 
real
imaginary

number part
part

When we add a complex number, the real part is added to the real part,
and the imaginary part is added to the imaginary part.

Similarly, when we subtract a complex number, the real part is subtracted

from the real part, and the imaginary part is subtracted from the
imaginary part.

An example of this is shown below:

a = 3 + 7i

b = 2 + 5i

a + b = (3 + 2) + (7 + 5)i = 5 + 12i

a − b = (3 − 2) + (7 − 5)i = 1 + 2i

Now, let’s implement the complex number class and overload the + and
- operators below:
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class Com:

def __init__(self, real=0, imag=0):

self.real = real

self.imag = imag

def __add__(self, other): # overloading the `+` operator

temp = Com(self.real + other.real, self.imag + other.imag)

return temp

def __sub__(self, other): # overloading the `-` operator

temp = Com(self.real - other.real, self.imag - other.imag)

return temp

obj1 = Com(3, 7)

obj2 = Com(2, 5)

obj3 = obj1 + obj2

obj4 = obj1 - obj2

print("real of obj3:", obj3.real)

print("imag of obj3:", obj3.imag)

print("real of obj4:", obj4.real)

print("imag of obj4:", obj4.imag)

Explanation#
In the above code, we have overloaded the built-in method __add__
(line 6) and __sub__ (line 10) that are invoked when the + and the
- operators are used.

Whenever two objects of class Com are added using the + operator,
the overloaded __add__ method is called.

This method adds the real property separately and the imag
property separately and then returns a new Com class object that is
initialized by these sums.

Note that __add__ and __sub__ methods have two input parameters.
The first one is self , which we know is the reference to the class
itself. The second parameter is other . other is a reference to the

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other objects that are interacting with the class object.

In line 18, obj2 will be considered the other object, the operator will
be called on the obj1 object, and the returned object will be stored in
obj3 .

In line 19, obj2 will be considered the other object, the operator will
be called on the obj1 object, and the returned object will be stored in
obj4 .

Other has Com class attributes and thus, it has the real and imag
properties.

obj1 obj2

3 2

7
+ 5

(2 + 3) (5 +7)

real
5

imag      12

obj3

You can name the second argument anything, but as per convention,
we will be using the word other to reference the other object.

Similarly, whenever two objects of class Com are subtracted using the -
operator, the overloaded __sub__ method is called. This method subtracts
the real and the imag properties separately and then returns a new Com
class object that is initialized by these differences.
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Special functions for some common

operators#
Below are some common special functions that can be overloaded while
implementing operators for objects of a class.

Operator Method

+ __add__ (self, other)

- __sub__ (self, other)

/ __truediv__ (self, other)

* __mul__ (self, other)

< __lt__ (self, other)

> __gt__ (self, other)

== __eq__ (self, other)

It is for the user to decide how they want the objects to interact when an
operator operates on them, but they usually need to make sure that these
operations make sense. For example, the + is not going to be used for
finding products of different properties of a class.

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