Friend functions and friend classes allow a class interface to be extended in a natural and efficient way. For some problems, friend functions lead to more intuitive code, while friend classes are needed when two classes are tightly coupled. Non-member friend functions are especially useful for implementing operator overloading, a good example being operator<<.
Friend functions do not break encapsulation, but rather enhance a class interface. Although this is the case, friends should be used judiciously; a member function will often do just as well. As a general rule of thumb, use member functions where possible, and friends where necessary. A well-designed project will not be free of friend functions, but will instead use them in places where non-members are naturally part of a class.
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Serialize Your Class into Streams in C++
