Swift: operator functions don't show normal overloading behavior

Originator:garth
Number:rdar://23637490 Date Originated:20-Nov-2015 03:10 PM
Status:Open Resolved:
Product:Developer Tools Product Version:Xcode 7.1.1
Classification:Other Bug Reproducible:Always
 
See: https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/26621

If this is not a bug, it’s certainly an inconsistent and unexpected behavior. Consider this code:

class A {}
class B: A {}

func +(a: A, b: A) { print("A + A") }
func +(a: A, b: B) { print("A + B") }
func +(a: B, b: A) { print("B + A") }

A() + A() // A + A
A() + B() // A + A
B() + A() // A + A

If the functions were non-operator functions, the calls would be dispatched to the most specific version; there would be one call to each implementation.

What’s especially weird is that defining the B + B version makes everything work as expected, even though the B + B version is never actually called:

class A {}
class B: A {}

func +(a: A, b: A) { print("A + A") }
func +(a: A, b: B) { print("A + B") }
func +(a: B, b: A) { print("B + A") }
func +(a: B, b: B) { print("B + B”) }

A() + A() // A + A
A() + B() // A + B
B() + A() // B + A

Comments


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