C++: unusual operator overloading
c++, operator-keyword, operator-overloading, static-cast
Solution
That's a conversion operator, which allows the class to be converted to `T*`. Usage:
T * p = TObj;
It's probably a bad idea for a smart pointer to provide this, as it makes it easy to accidentally get a non-smart pointer. Standard smart pointers provide explicit conversion via a `get()` function instead, to prevent accidental conversions.
Problem
What an operator is overloaded here? `operator T * ()` I know that the operator method has the following structure: `type operator operator-symbol ( parameter-list )` Assume we have the following code ``` template<typename T> class SmartPtr { public: SmartPtr(T* data): member(data) {} T* member; T& operator * () { return *member; } //usage: *TObj T*& operator () () { return member; } //usage: TObj() operator T * () { return member; } //usage: ??? }; ``` No compilation errors if you try it on the ideone. So what is going on here? ADD: Am I right that `static_cast<T*>(TObj)` makes a call of the `operator T *`? I've tried it here.