During the Math classes we learned how to define new operators. For example:
(ℝ, ∘), x ∘ y = x + 2yThis defines ∘ law. For any real numbers x and y, x ∘ y is x + 2y.
Example: 2 ∘ 2 = 2 + 4 = 6.
Is possible to define operators like this in JavaScript? I know that a function would do the job:
function foo (x, y) { return x + 2 * y; }
but I would like to have the following syntax:
var y = 2 ∘ 2; // returns 6
instead of this:
var y = foo(2, 2);
Which is the closest solution to this question?
The short answer is no. ECMAScript (the standard JS is based on) does not support operator overloading.
As an aside, in ECMAScript 7, you'll be able to overload a subset of the standard operators when designing custom value types. Here is a slide deck by language creator and Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich about the subject. This won't allow arbitary operators, however, and the overloaded meaning will only be applied to value types. <- haha that ended up not happening.
It is possible to use third party tools like sweet.js to add custom operators though that'd require an extra compilation step.
I've answered with a solution from outside JavaScript using esprima - this is changing JavaScript and extending it, it's not native.