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It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless. For example, naively to evaluate p and q you must check the value of both p and q, and then do the...
Answer
#6: Post edited
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:46:29Z (8 months ago)
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False`, the result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`. Both operands are executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False`, the result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`. Both operands are executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuits that evaluate booleans, you can have a literal short circuit mechanism.
#5: Post edited
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:44:30Z (8 months ago)
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False`, the result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False`, the result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`. Both operands are executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
#4: Post edited
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:43:38Z (8 months ago)
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False`, the result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
#3: Post edited
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:43:03Z (8 months ago)
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
For example, naively you evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively to evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
#2: Post edited
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:37:37Z (8 months ago)
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively you evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless.
- For example, naively you evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation.
- However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`.
- A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary.
- Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.
- -------------------
- In electrical circuits, a short circuit is when electricity is provided a new (often unintended) path that it can use to bypass the real load (such as a lightbulb). Since it takes the path of least resistance, if you give it a shortcut, it will go through the shortcut without bothering to power your device. This is analogous to how the program skips the remainder of your expression when provided an easier way of completing evaluation.
- Also, there are electronic versions of boolean expressions, such as AND gates. These use current yes/no as True/False. When building electronic circuit that evaluate booleans, you can literally have a short circuit mechanism.
#1: Initial revision
by
matthewsnyder
·
2023-09-28T19:31:49Z (8 months ago)
It means the program can give up early if checking the rest of a boolean expression is pointless. For example, naively you evaluate `p and q` you must check the value of both `p` and `q`, and then do the `and` operation. However, if you are a bit more clever, you'll see that when `p` is `False` is `False`, there result cannot be `True` no matter what `q` is. It's doomed already, so there's no point checking `q`. So we say `p` has **short-circuited** `q`. A very common use is actually when people write things like `if foo() and bar():`, so both operands are actually executing some non-trivial code. If `bar()` happens to be a very computationally expensive function, it's useful to avoid running it when not necessary. Besides performance, short circuits can reduce nesting. Another common idiom is: `if x is not Null and x.baz == "something":`. Without short circuit you would need two nested ifs, because the second expression would error out if `x` is indeed null. But with short circuits, if it is null, the program won't even attempt to check the second part so you can get away with this statement.