What is the << operator for in C++?

Question

I come from a C# and Java background into C++ and I\'m trying to get to understand the >> & << operators such as in

std         


        

Answer 1

In the case of I/O streams the << and >> operators are overloaded to mean something other than bit shifting. For example, std::ostream::operator<< is overloaded for many types, and you can add overloads for your own types as well. For example:

#include 
#include 

class my_type {
public:
    my_type(const std::string &name) : _name(name) { }
    const std::string &get_name() const { return _name; }
private:
    std::string _name;
};

std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& out, const my_type &foo ) {
    return out << foo.get_name();
}

int main() {
    my_type m("foo");
    std::cout << m;   // prints "foo"
    return 0;
}