C++ FAQ Celebrating Twenty-One Years of the C++ FAQ!!!
(Click here for a personal note from Marshall Cline.)
Section 13:
13.1 What's the deal with operator overloading?
13.2 What are the benefits of operator overloading?
13.3 What are some examples of operator overloading?
13.4 Is operator overloading supposed to make the class' code clearer?
13.5 What operators can/cannot be overloaded?
13.6 Overloading operator== to use string comparison?
13.7 Can I create operator** for to-the-power-of?
13.8 But which operators should I override?
13.9 Guidelines / "rules of thumb" for overloading operators?
13.10 Creating a subscript operator for a Matrix class?
13.11 Should my Matrix interface look like an array-of-array?
13.12 Part two of making my Matrix interface look like an array-of-array?
13.13 Designing classes from the outside-in vs. inside-out?
13.14 Overloading prefix/postfix forms of operators ++ and --?
13.15 Which is more efficient: i++ or ++i?
[13.2] What are the benefits of operator overloading?

By overloading standard operators on a class, you can exploit the intuition of the users of that class. This lets users program in the language of the problem domain rather than in the language of the machine.

The ultimate goal is to reduce both the learning curve and the defect rate.