What is Arrow Operator in C++

In C++, operators are identifiers that perform specific tasks on given operands. There are two types of operators used to refer to individual members of structure, class, and union: the dot (.) operator and the arrow (->) operator. A dot operator seems to be utilized to access members of an actual object. However, the arrow operator seems to be utilized to access the members of an object through a pointer.

This article aims to discuss arrow operator in C++.

What is Arrow Operator in C++?

The arrow operator, denoted by “->”, is a binary operator in C++ that allows for the accessing of a member of a structure, union, or class through a pointer. It is used to access class members using a pointer variable. It’s also called a “Class Member Access Operator” in the C++ programming language.

The main advantage of using arrow operator in C++ is that it simplifies the code by allowing direct access to members of a class without the need for explicit dereferencing of the pointer.

Syntax

The syntax for the arrow operator is:

object_pointer_name -> member_name;

Here, the object_pointer_name is the name of the pointer to the object, and the member_name is the name of the member variable or member function of the class.

Use an Arrow Operator in C++

Let’s consider an example of how the arrow operator works in C++. In the following program, we define a class “student” with two member variables: cgpa and sem.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class student
{
private:
float cgpa;
public:
int sem;
void init(float cgpa)
{
this->cgpa = cgpa;
}
void display()
{
cout << "cgpa = " << cgpa << endl;
}
};
int main()
{
student *st = new student();
cout << "Using * and . Operators\n";
(*st).init(3.97);
(*st).sem = 5;
(*st).display();
cout << "sem = " << (*st).sem << endl;
cout << "Using Arrow Operator (->)\n";
st->init(3.97);
st->sem = 5;
st->display();
cout << "sem: " << st->sem << endl;
return 0;
}

After making classes and objects, we called the main() function. We created an object in the main function “st” of the student class using a pointer. The arrow operator (->) was then used to give the value “3.97” and ”5” to be stored in the member variables cgpa and sem respectively. After the assignment of the values to the members, we applied the arrow operator (->) to reach the members and print its value, as shown in the output.

Output

Conclusion

The arrow operator (->) is an essential operator in C++ programming that allows access to class members using a pointer variable. It is easy to use and saves time compared to using the combination of the asterisk (*) and dot (.) operators. By understanding how to use the arrow operator in C++, programmers can easily manipulate object-oriented programming concepts, especially when dealing with pointers.

What is Arrow Operator in C++