I remember when I was still in college, I asked my...

# random

[cedric]

I remember when I was still in college, I asked my C teacher how come I have to write a.b or a -> b depending on whether a is a pointer: the compiler already knows, why put the burden on the developer? He looked at me blankly. Never received a good answer.

[r4zzz4k]

Not really about C, but smart pointers in C++ are a good example of overloaded operator *, that allows one to both use it as object (ptr.reset()) and as a transparent pointer (ptr->fieldOfPointedType).

As for the C itself, I'd say clarity, but automated casting and implicit void on functions defeats that argument.