Logical Operations

Logical operations are used to combine or negate boolean values, facilitating complex conditional logic in programming.

Common Logical Operators

1. AND (and): Returns True if both operands are True; otherwise, returns False.

   a = True
   b = False
   result = a and b  # False
   print(result)  # Output: False
   

2. OR (or): Returns True if at least one operand is True; returns False if both are False.

   a = True
   b = False
   result = a or b  # True
   print(result)  # Output: True
   

3. NOT (not): Negates the boolean value of the operand. Returns True if the operand is False, and False if the operand is True.

   a = True
   result = not a  # False
   print(result)  # Output: False
   

Combining Logical Operators

Logical operators can be combined to form more complex conditions:

a = True
b = False
c = True

result = (a and b) or c  # True
print(result)  # Output: True

Short-Circuit Evaluation

Logical operators use short-circuit evaluation to optimize performance:

• AND (and): If the first operand is False, the second operand is not evaluated.

• OR (or): If the first operand is True, the second operand is not evaluated.

  def expensive_operation():
      print("Operation performed")
      return True
  
  result = False and expensive_operation()  # "Operation performed" is not printed
  print(result)  # Output: False
  

Conclusion

Logical operations are fundamental for building conditions and control flow in programming. They enable complex decision-making and efficient code execution through short-circuit evaluation.