How to overload dereference operator?

Question

How do I overload the dereference operator? What would the declaration look like? I'm creating a list class, but I am have trouble with the dereference operator.

Here is my function for overloading the dereference operator

template <typename T>
T List_Iterator<T>::operator *(){
    return current_link->value;
}

This is the data members in my iterator class

private:
      /* Data Members */
    Link<T>* current_link;

This is my link class

protected:
    T value;

Answer 1

You should be returning a reference, not a copy:

T& List_Iterator<T>::operator *() { .... }

Otherwise the semantics are confusing: you could not modify the object that you are "de-referencing".

Answer 2

You can also return by address. It's easier to write a->b than (*a).b :

T* operator->() {
    return &current_link->value;
}

You will certainly need a const-version of your iterator, that will basically do the same thing as the first one, with the const versions of the "dereferencing" operators.