INTRODUCING

COMPUTER SYSTEMS
COMP-111 BOOLEAN LOGIC
2 APPLICATIONS OF BOOLEAN LOGIC

• Computer programs
• And computer addition
• Logic problems
• Sudoku
3 BOOLEAN PROPOSITIONS

• A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false

• “The sky is blue”
• “I am a Engineering major”
• “x == y”
• Not propositions:
• “Are you Bob?”
• “x := 7”
4 BOOLEAN VARIABLES

• We use Boolean variables to refer to propositions

• Usually are lower case letters starting with p (i.e. p, q, r, s, etc.)
• A Boolean variable can have one of two values true (T) or false (F)
• A proposition can be…
• A single variable: p
• An operation of multiple variables: p(qr)
5 INTRODUCTION TO LOGICAL
OPERATORS
• About a dozen logical operators
• Similar to algebraic operators + * - /
• In the following examples,
• p = “Today is Friday”
• q = “Today is my birthday”
 LOGICAL OPERATORS: NOT
6

• A not operation switches (negates) the truth

p p
value
T F
• Symbol:  or ~
F T
• In C++ and Java,
the operand is !
• p = “Today is not Friday”
 LOGICAL OPERATORS: AND
7

• An and operation is true if both operands

p q pq
are true
T T T
• Symbol: 
T F F
• It’s like the ‘A’ in And
• In C++ and Java, F T F
the operand is && F F F
• pq = “Today is Friday and
today is my birthday”
 LOGICAL OPERATORS: OR
8

• An or operation is true if either operands p q pq

are true T T T
• Symbol: 
T F T
• In C++ and Java,
the operand is || F T T
• pq = “Today is Friday or F F F
today is my birthday (or
possibly both)”
 LOGICAL OPERATORS: EXCLUSIVE OR
9

• An exclusive or operation is true if one of the p q pq

operands are true, but false if both are true
T T F
• Symbol: 
• Often called XOR T F T
• pq  (p  q)  ¬(p  q)
F T T
• In Java, the operand is ^
(but not in C++) F F F
• pq = “Today is Friday or today
is my birthday, but not both”
10 INCLUSIVE OR VERSUS EXCLUSIVE
OR
• Do these sentences mean inclusive or exclusive or?
• Experience with C++ or Java is required
• Lunch includes soup or salad
• To enter the country, you need a passport or a driver’s license
• Publish or perish
LOGICAL OPERATORS: NAND AND NOR
11

• The negation of And and Or, respectively

• Symbols: | and ↓, respectively
• Nand: p|q  ¬(pq)
• Nor: p↓q  ¬(pq)
p q pq pq p|q pq
T T T T F F
T F F T T F
F T F T T F
F F F F T T
LOGICAL OPERATORS: CONDITIONAL 1
12

• A conditional means “if p then q”

• Symbol:  p q pq ¬pq
• pq = “If today is T T T T
Friday, then today T F F F
is my birthday” F T T T
• p→q  ¬pq F F T T

the the
antecedent consequence
LOGICAL OPERATORS: CONDITIONAL 2
13

• Let p = “I am elected” and q = “I will lower taxes”

• I state: p  q = “If I p q pq
am elected, then I
T T T
will lower taxes”
T F F
• Consider all
F T T
possibilities
F F T
• Note that if p is false, then
the conditional is true regardless of whether q is true
or false
14 LOGICAL OPERATORS: CONDITIONAL 3

Conditional Inverse Converse Contra-

positive
p q p q pq pq qp qp
T T F F T T T T
T F F T F T T F
F T T F T F F T
F F T T T T T T
15 LOGICAL OPERATORS: CONDITIONAL 4

• Alternate ways of stating a conditional:

• p implies q
• If p, q
• p is sufficient for q
• q if p
• q whenever p
• q is necessary for p
• p only if q I don’t like this one
LOGICAL OPERATORS: BI-CONDITIONAL 1
16

• A bi-conditional means “p if and only if q”

• Symbol: 
p q pq
• Alternatively, it means
T T T
“(if p then q) and
T F F
(if q then p)”
F T F
• pq  pq  qp
F F T
• Note that a bi-conditional
has the opposite truth values
of the exclusive or
LOGICAL OPERATORS: BI-CONDITIONAL 2
17

• Let p = “You take this class” and q = “You get a grade”

• Then pq means p q pq
“You take this class if
T T T
and only if you get a
T F F
grade”
F T F
• Alternatively, it means “If
F F T
you take this class, then
you get a grade and if you get a grade then you take
(took) this class”
18 BOOLEAN OPERATORS SUMMARY

not not and or xor nand nor conditional bi-

conditional
p q p q pq pq pq p|q pq pq pq
T T F F T T F F F T T
T F F T F T T T F F F
F T T F F T T T F T F
F F T T F F F T T T T

• Learn what they mean, don’t just memorize the table!

19 PRECEDENCE OF OPERATORS

• Just as in algebra, operators have precedence

• 4+3*2 = 4+(3*2), not (4+3)*2
• Precedence order (from highest to lowest): ¬   → ↔
• The first three are the most important
• This means that p  q  ¬r → s ↔ t
yields: (p  (q  (¬r))) ↔ (s → t)
• Not is always performed before any other operation
20 TRANSLATING ENGLISH SENTENCES
• Problem:
• p = “It is below freezing”
• q = “It is snowing”

• It is below freezing and it is snowing pq

• It is below freezing but not snowing p¬q
• It is not below freezing and it is not snowing ¬p¬q
• It is either snowing or below freezing (or both) pq
• If it is below freezing, it is also snowing p→q
• It is either below freezing or it is snowing, (pq)(p→¬q)
but it is not snowing if it is below freezing
• That it is below freezing is necessary and sufficient p↔q
for it to be snowing
21 TRANSLATION EXAMPLE 1

• Heard on the radio:

• A study showed that there was a correlation between the more children ate dinners with
their families and lower rate of substance abuse by those children
• Announcer conclusions:
• If children eat more meals with their family, they will have lower substance abuse
• If they have a higher substance abuse rate, then they did not eat more meals with their family
22 TRANSLATION EXAMPLE 1

• Let p = “Child eats more meals with family”

• Let q = “Child has less substance abuse
• Announcer conclusions:
• If children eat more meals with their family, they will have lower substance abuse
• pq
• If they have a higher substance abuse rate, then they did not eat more meals with their
family
• q  p

• Note that p  q and q  p are logically equivalent

TRANSLATION EXAMPLE 1
23

• Let p = “Child eats more meals with family”

• Let q = “Child has less substance abuse”
• Remember that the study showed a correlation, not a
causation

p q result conclusion
T T T T
T F ? F
F T ? T
F F T T
24 TRANSLATION EXAMPLE 2

• “I have neither given nor received help on this exam”

• Rephrased: “I have not given nor received …”
• Let p = “I have given help on this exam”
• Let q = “I have received help on this exam”

• Translation is: pq p q p pq

T T F F
T F F T
F T T F
F F T F
25 TRANSLATION EXAMPLE 2
• What they mean is “I have not given and I have not
received help on this exam”
• Or “I have not (given nor received) help on this exam”

p q pq (pq)
T T F F
T F F F
F T F F
F F T T
• The problem:  has a higher precedence than  in
Boolean logic, but not always in English
• Also, “neither” is vague