6.7. Truth Tables¶
Truth tables help us understand how logical operators work by showing all
of the possible return values. Let’s look at the truth table for and
, which
assumes we have two boolean expressions, A
and B
.
6.7.1. Truth Table for and
¶
Example
A |
B |
A |
---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
Consider the first row of the table. This row states that if A is true
and B is true, then A and B
is true. The two middle rows show that if
either A or B is false, then A and B
is false. Finally, if both A and B are
false, then A and B
is false.
6.7.2. Truth Table for or
¶
Example
A |
B |
A |
---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Similar to the and
table, if A or B are both true, then A or B
is true.
However, the middle two rows show that if either A or B is false, then A or B
still remains true.
This is very different from the and
table.
The last row shows that if both options are false, then the entire statement is false.
6.7.3. Order of Operations¶
We now have a lot of operators in our toolkit, so it is important to understand how they relate to each other. Which operators get done first?
Python always performs operations in a specific order:
It does all math calculations first.
Next, it evaluates all comparisons as
True
orFalse
.Next, it applies all
not
operators.Finally, it evaluates
and
andor
operations.
Example
The expression x * 5 >= 10 and y - 6 <= 20
will be completed in this order:
x * 5
is calculated, theny - 6
.The
>=
comparison is evaluated asTrue
orFalse
.The
<=
comparison is evaluated asTrue
orFalse
.The
and
operator is evaluated last.
Let’s say x = 2
and y = 46
. Here we step through each stage of the evaluation:
Action |
Result |
---|---|
Plug in the values into the expression |
|
|
|
The |
|
The |
|
The |
|
6.7.3.1. Table of Operator Order¶
The following table lists operators in order of importance, from highest (applied first) to lowest (applied last).
Level |
Category |
Operators |
---|---|---|
(Highest) |
Parentheses |
|
Exponent |
|
|
Multiplication and Division |
|
|
Addition and subtraction |
|
|
Comparison |
|
|
Logical |
|
|
Logical |
|
|
(Lowest) |
Logical |
|
Tip
Using parentheses is not always necessary, but they make a BIG difference when someone else reads your code. As a best practice, use parentheses to make your code easier to read:
x * 5 >= 10 and y - 6 <= 20
vs.
(x * 5 >= 10) and (y - 6 <= 20)
6.7.4. Check Your Understanding¶
Question
Assume we have 3 boolean expressions (A, B, and C). Which combinations of
values (A/B/C) will make the expression A or B and C
evaluate to
True
?
True / True / True
False / True / True
True / False / True
True / True / False
False / False / True
False / True / False
True / False / False
False / False / False