operator << must take exactly one argument

Question

a.h

#include "logic.h" ...  class A { friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, A&); ... }; 

logic.cpp

#include "a.h" ... ostream& logic::operator<<(ostream& os, A& a) { ... } ... 

When i compile, it says:

std::ostream& logic::operator<<(std::ostream&, A&)' must take exactly one argument.

What is the problem?

Answer 1

The problem is that you define it inside the class, which

a) means the second argument is implicit (this) and

b) it will not do what you want it do, namely extend std::ostream.

You have to define it as a free function:

class A { /* ... */ }; std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream&, const A& a);