In this module, we will get acquainted with one of the most important type of variables: Boolean values. They represent values that are either true or false, which is a key element in a number of problems.

Computer are really good at handling true/false statements. In fact, deep down, this is pretty much everything they know how to do. And so, getting familiar with the logic of Boolean values is extremely important. The good thing is that there are only two such values:

The first is true:

true

true

The second is false:

false

false

Why are they so important? The main reason is that we can use them to build “branching paths” in our code, for example to perform different actions based on whether a condition is satisfied or not. This is usually done with an if block, like so:

if (true)
    @info "true"
end

[ Info: true

The part of the code in parenthesis is set to true here, but in practice, this would be the outcome of some sort of test or comparison. For example:

2 < 3

true

Indeed, many functions return true or false when they perform a comparison, or look for a match, or generally bring a categorical answer to a question.

The if blocks can have an else statement, which is executed only if the condition for the block is false. We can see it in action this way:

if (false)
    @info "true"
else
    @info "false"
end

[ Info: false

Because the test we do in the if block gives a result of false, Julia will run the content of the else block. This is useful to decide what to do based on a condition! For example, we may want to do something different based on whether a random number is smaller than a threshold:

if rand() < 0.5
    @info "x < .5"
else
    @info "x ≤ .5"
end

[ Info: x < .5

The beauty of Boolean values is that they can be combined, because they obey some arithmetic rules, for example:

true + true

2

Why? In brief, because true is given a value of 1, and false a value of 0. This is a good thing (we can build some semi-clever shortcuts around this property), but in practice we use specific operators for Boolean values: !, | and &.

The not operation (!) is the easiest to grasp: in front of a Boolean value, it returns the other:

!true

false

The next operation is or (|), which is true if at least one of the values is true:

true | false

true

The last operation is and (&), which is true if both of the values are true:

true & false

false

Compare to:

true & true

true

We can nest these operations within parentheses. For example, the following statement is valid:

true & !(true | false)

false

This evaluates as false because the interior of the parenthesis is true, so the not operation returns false, and then true & false is false.

There is a lot more we can achieve with Boolean values, which we will cover in part in the next modules.