C++, is there a way to (object.method(0,0) = 10) use assignment operator instead of an extra parameter?

Question

I'm new to C++, and it's my first year in computer science and... I just want to ask if... is there a way to make what i put in the title work?...

To further explain what I mean, here is an example:

    template <class dataType>
    class squareMatrix{
    private:
        int size_side;
        dataType *mainPtr;
    public:
        squareMatrix(int n){
            this->size_side = n;
            mainPtr = new dataType[n*n];
        }
   
        void index(int row, int column, dataType value){
            mainPtr[row+(size_side*column)] = value;
        }
    };  

so as you can see I need to use this method to manipulate an index in the matrix

squareMatrix<int> obj(2);    // created a matrix of 2x2 size
obj.index(0,0,10);           // here is the method to store the number 10 in the 0,0 index

And then my question, is there a way to make this into this?

obj.index(0,0) = 10;

Instead putting an extra parameter to the method is there a way to use the "=" or the assignment operator instead?

Answer 1

Yes, you can make index returning the reference to element, (like how std::vector::operator[] and std::vector::at do,) e.g.

dataType& index(int row, int column) {
    return mainPtr[row+(size_side*column)];
}

then you can assign to the return value like

obj.index(0,0) = 10;