Operator overloading, via Symbol.arithmetic?

[Alex Vincent]

Regarding operator overloading, I had a new idea last night.

Suppose we could express arithmetic operations on an object via a
"well-defined" symbol (using the specification's terminology), named
Symbol.arithmetic:

let a = new Fraction(1, 2); // 1/2
let b = new Complex(2, 5); // 2 + 5i

a * b: function()
{
let ta = (typeof a == "number") || (a instanceof Number);
let tb = (typeof b == "number") || (b instanceof Number);

if (ta && tb) {
// just do the regular operation, as defined in ES7, section 12.7.3 (yawn)
}
if (typeof a[Symbol.arithmetic] == "function") {
return a[Symbol.arithmetic](a, "*", b);
}
if (typeof b[Symbol.arithmetic] == "function") {
return b[Symbol.arithmetic](a, "*", b);
}
return NaN;
}

This algorithm would be compatible, I think, with existing JavaScript:
(new Object) * (new Object) == NaN right now.  This supports the
traditional arithmetic and comparison operators, and the new ** operator
rather well.

For unary operators + and -, just make the first argument 0, and let the
third argument be the object.

For the assignment operator, only run the left-hand assignment test, and
perhaps treat it like a property definition (returning truthy means the
operation succeeded, false means it failed).

I am well aware that this doesn't cover other operators, like [].  This is
just a starting suggestion.

-- 
"The first step in confirming there is a bug in someone else's work is
confirming there are no bugs in your own."
-- Alexander J. Vincent, June 30, 2001
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