Operator overloading of "basic" classes

Question

Hello I want to multiply a matrix by a number at left, something like : N=a*M where a is a number.

If i wanted to multiply at right i would have simply overloaded the operator * in my matrix class. But what shall I do in this case ? Can I overload the operator * of float even if it's a "default" class ? (I'm not even sure it's a class)

Answer 1

You would have to define the function in terms of the other. For example:

Matrix operator *(float x, Matrix const& m)
{
    return m * x;
}