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Programming Discrete Math Concepts for Beginners

Logical Expression and Short-Circuit Evaluation

Explore logical expressions, their operators, and the concept of short-circuit evaluation in programming. Understand how logical and relational operators work, the importance of operator precedence, and see practical examples that demonstrate efficient evaluation to prevent errors in code.

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Logical expressions

We can create a compound expression by combining logical operations. De Morgan’s laws are based on this paradigm. Consider the following expression:

not(a or b)

The compound expression above is true or false depending on different combinations. If a and b are false, the negation of subexpression (a or b) is true. If any one of them is true, then the value will be false, and this combination might take different shapes according to the truth table.

A major part of discrete mathematical operations is based on Boolean algebra and the associated logical expressions. To recap, we need to remember that there are three basic logical operators. The following symbols/operators are used in Python and other languages:

  • Conjunction: and in Python; && in Java, C++, C, Dart, and PHP
  • Disjunction:
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