CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7python-3.xpython-2.x
karthi_ms
karthi_ms

Reputation: 5698

Python operator overloading with multiple operands

I know I can do simple operator overloading in python by the following way.

Let say overloading '+' operator.

class A(object):
  def __init__(self,value):
    self.value = value

  def __add__(self,other):
    return self.value + other.value

a1 = A(10)
a2 = A(20)
print a1 + a2

But It fails when I try to do the following,

a1 = A(10)
a2 = A(20)
a3 = A(30)
print a1 + a2 + a3

Since the __add__ accepts only 2 parameters. What is the best solution to achieve operator overloading with n number of operands.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1843

Answers (2)

Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard
Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard

Reputation: 160427

This is failing because a1 + a2 return an int instance and its __add__ is called which doesn't support addition with the custom class A; you could return a A instance in __add__ to eliminate the Exception for this specific operation:

class A(object):
  def __init__(self,value):
    self.value = value

  def __add__(self,other):
    return type(self)(self.value + other.value)

Adding them together now behaves in the expected way:

>>> a1 = A(10)
>>> a2 = A(20)
>>> a3 = A(30)
>>> print(a1 + a2 + a3)
<__main__.A object at 0x7f2acd7d25c0>
>>> print((a1 + a2 + a3).value)
60

This class of course suffers from the same issues with other operations; you need to implement the other dunders to return an instance of your class or else you'll bump into the same result with other operations.

If you want a nice result displayed when you print these objects, you should also implement __str__ to return the value when called:

class A(object):
    def __init__(self,value):
        self.value = value

    def __add__(self,other):
        return A(self.value + other.value)

    def __str__(self):
        return "{}".format(self.value)

Now printing has the effect you need:

>>> print(a1 + a2 + a3)
60

Upvotes: 4

Pedru
Pedru

Reputation: 1450

The problem is that

a1 + a2 + a3 gives 30 + a3

30 is an int, and ints do not know how to sum to A

You should return an instance of A in your __add__ function

Upvotes: 0

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