Overload operator in F#: (/)

Question

I would like to overload the (/) operator in F# for strings and preserve the meaning for numbers.

/// Combines to path strings
let (/) path1 path2 = Path.Com         


        

Answer 1

I don't think that there is a straightforward way to do that. Extension members aren't taken into consideration for operator overloading in F#, and there isn't a good way to redefine the operation in a semi-generic way using member constraints.

It is possible to hack something together that will work, but it's very ugly:

type DivisionOperations =
  static member Divide(x:int, y:int) = x / y
  static member Divide(path1, path2) = Path.Combine(path1, path2)

let inline div< ^t, ^a, ^b, ^c when (^t or ^a) : (static member Divide : ^a * ^b -> ^c)> a b = ((^t or ^a) : (static member Divide : ^a * ^b -> ^c) (a, b))

let inline (/) x y = div x y