Re:Dennis Ritchie on the priorities of && || vs. == etc. (1982)
by fasterik on Friday January 05, 2024 @06:15PM
(#38886367)
I always remember it in terms of set operations. && corresponds to set intersection, while || corresponds to set union. The union operation is similar to "adding" two sets together. You also have the distributive property: a && (b || c) == (a && b) || (a && c).
The analogy isn't perfect, because || is also distributive over &&, but addition isn't distributive over multiplication. I think this is actually one of the essential properties that distinguishes a Boolean algebra from a ring. Someone with more knowledge of abstract algebra could probably provide more insight here, though.
The analogy isn't perfect, because || is also distributive over &&, but addition isn't distributive over multiplication. I think this is actually one of the essential properties that distinguishes a Boolean algebra from a ring. Someone with more knowledge of abstract algebra could probably provide more insight here, though.