Why doesn't Java offer operator overloading?

Question

Coming from C++ to Java, the obvious unanswered question is why didn't Java include operator overloading? Isn't `Complex a, b, c; a = b + c;` much simpler than `Complex a, b, c; a = b.add(c);`? Is there a known reason for this, valid arguments for *not* allowing operator overloading? Is the reason arbitrary, or lost to time?

Answer 1

Hello,

Though I'm not familiar with the decision making regarding the support of operator overloading in Java, I *believe* that the authors made a judgement call in which it was determined that operator overloading adds complexity to the language (syntactic as well as semantic), and potential confusion both designer and user of such. C++ went the other way. There are certainly reasonable arguments for and against.