More interesting conditions using boolean operators

More interesting conditions using boolean operators

Boolean operators allow you to create more complex conditional statements. For example, if you wish to check if a variable is both greater than five and less than ten, you could use the Boolean AND to ensure both var > 5 and var < 10 are true. In the following discussion of Boolean operators, I will capitalize the Boolean operators in order to distinguish them from normal English. The actual C operators of equivalent function will be described further along into the tutorial - the C symbols are not: OR, AND, NOT, although they are of equivalent function. 

When using if statements, you will often wish to check multiple different conditions. You must understand the Boolean operators OR, NOT, and AND. The boolean operators function in a similar way to the comparison operators: each returns 0 if evaluates to FALSE or 1 if it evaluates to TRUE.
NOT:
         The NOT operator accepts one input. If that input is TRUE, it returns FALSE, and if that input is FALSE, it returns TRUE. For example, NOT (1) evaluates to 0, and NOT (0) evaluates to 1. NOT (any number but zero) evaluates to 0. In C NOT is written as !. NOT is evaluated prior to both AND and OR.
AND:
         This is another important command. AND returns TRUE if both inputs are TRUE (if 'this' AND 'that' are true). (1) AND (0) would evaluate to zero because one of the inputs is false (both must be TRUE for it to evaluate to TRUE). (1) AND (1) evaluates to 1. (any number but 0) AND (0) evaluates to 0. The AND operator is written && in C. Do not be confused by thinking it checks equality between numbers: it does not. Keep in mind that the AND operator is evaluated before the OR operator.
OR:
        Very useful is the OR statement! If either (or both) of the two values it checks are TRUE then it returns TRUE. For example, (1) OR (0) evaluates to 1. (0) OR (0) evaluates to 0. The OR is written as || in C. Those are the pipe characters. On your keyboard, they may look like a stretched colon. On my computer the pipe shares its key with \. Keep in mind that OR will be evaluated after AND.

It is possible to combine several Boolean operators in a single statement; often you will find doing so to be of great value when creating complex expressions for if statements. What is !(1 && 0)? Of course, it would be TRUE. It is true is because 1 && 0 evaluates to 0 and !0 evaluates to TRUE (i.e., 1).

Try some of these - they're not too hard. If you have questions about them, feel free to stop by our forums.

 
A. !( 1 || 0 )         ANSWER: 0 
B. !( 1 || 1 && 0 )    ANSWER: 0 (AND is evaluated before OR)
C. !( ( 1 || 0 ) && 0 )  ANSWER: 1 (Parenthesis are useful)