PYT100

Comparisons and Logical Operators

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this lecture, students should be able to:

LO1: Utilize conditional operators for branching
LO2: Combine multiple conditions using Logical operators
LO3: Describe common arithmetic operators

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CONDITIONS

Statements like if-elif-else require a condition

Conditionals return True or False values
Conditionals can be
Math based, 4 > 3 which returns True.
Strings, "dog" in "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" which returns False.

Additional comparisons exist in advanced data structures

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LOGICAL COMPARISON OPERATORS

Assume:
Allows for comparisons
var1 = 5 var2 =20
Returns Boolean userinput = "admin" guess = 1
(true/false) Operator Meaning Example Results
> Greater than var1 > 10 False
Can act unexpectedly if
< Less than var2 < 25 True
the comparisons are of Greater than
two different types >=
or equal to
var1 >= var2 False
Less than or
"2" == 2 is False <=
equal to
var1 <= var2 True
userinput !=
!= Not equal to True
"admin"
== Equal to guess == 3 False

Note that <>, meaning not equal, is deprecated starting in Python 3.

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COMPARISON COMPLETENESS

When using comparison operators, ensure all options are account for
properly
Consider:
if (value > 10):
print(“Greater than 10”)
else:
print(“Less than 10”) # Is this statement true in all cases?

What happens if value == 10?

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COMPARISON COMPLETENESS

if (value > 10): # value > 10

print(“Greater than 10”)
else: # value <= 10
print(“Less than or equal to 10”)

This works if we are not trying to capture value == 10 specifically

Since the else condition is not always obvious, a best practice is to
add a comment with the implied comparison

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COMPARISON COMPLETENESS: ELIF

if (value > 10): # value > 10

print(“Greater than 10”)
elif (value == 10): # value == 10
print(“Equal to 10”)
else: # value < 10
print(“Less than 10”)

This can be used to account for all three cases

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LOGICAL OPERATORS: NOT

Negation, not keyword

The negation of True is false

3 > 5 returns False, so the

negation, not(3>5), is True

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LOGICAL OPERATORS: AND

Connects two
conditionals

Both must be True to

get a True returned

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LOGICAL OPERATORS: OR

Connects two
conditionals

Either (or both) must

be True to get a True
returned

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LOGICAL OPERATORS: PARENTHESIS

Open (
Close or closed )
Chain many operators together
Clarity or to remove ambiguity
Order of operations (PEMDAS)
Use parentheses to remove
ambiguity
Example:
(user=='admin' or user=='root' ) and
authenticated == True

Parenthesis = the singular operator: open ( , close or closed )

Parentheses = two or more parenthesis

Order of Operations (PEMDAS) (2+1)/3 = 1 vs 2 + 1 / 3 = 2.3333....

Can be nested:
>>> True or ((True or False) and False)
True
>>> False or ((True or False) and False)
False
>>> False and ((True or False) and False)
False
>>> True and ((True or False) and False)
False

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OR: FIRST TRUE IS TRUE

In an or condition, the first True

makes the statement True
Notice that a is defined, but x is
not
The or statement evaluates True,
but the x == "something" will
throw an error
When (a < 10) evaluates to false,
then the second condition is
evaluated

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AND: FIRST FALSE IS FALSE

In an and condition, the first

False makes the statement False
Notice that a is defined, but x is
not
The and statement evaluates
False, but the x == "something"
will throw an error

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ARITHMETIC OPERATORS: COMMON MATH OPERATIONS

Addition, + Examples:
Subtraction, - 6+2=8
15 – 7 = 8
Multiplication, *
25 * 3 = 75
Division, / 55 / 5 = 11.0

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ARITHMETIC OPERATORS: SPECIAL MATH OPERATIONS

Modulus, % Returns the remainder

6%2=0 Note: 6 / 2 = 3 Remainder 0
75 % 10 = 5 Note: 75 / 10 = 7 Remainder 5

Integer Division, //
Equivalent of int(num1/num2)

Also called Floor Division

55//10 = 5 Note: 55/10 = 5.5, but the // returns only the integer part, 5
9//4 = 2 Note: 9/4 = 2.25, but the // returns only the integer part, 4

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ARITHMETIC OPERATORS: EXPONENTS

Exponent, **
5**2 = 25 Note: This is the equivalent of 5*5
2**4 = 16 Note: This is the equivalent of 2*2*2*2

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