Pseudocode Operators

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There are also many special operators that can be used to perform operations on Boolean values. These operators are used to along with one or more Boolean values in some way to produce a resulting value. Let’s review the three important Boolean operators in pseudocode.

AND Operator

The first Boolean operator we’ll review is the AND operator. This operator is used to determine if both Boolean values are true, and if so the resulting value will also be true. Otherwise, it will be false. This corresponds to the following truth table:

Here’s an example of using the AND operator in pseudocode:

x <- true
y <- true
z <- x AND y
DISPLAY(z)

When this code is executed, the following output should be displayed:

true

OR Operator

The next Boolean operator to review in pseudocode is the OR operator. This operator will result in a true value if at least one of the input values is true. If both inputs are false, then the result is false. This corresponds to the following truth table:

Here’s an example of using the OR operator in pseudocode:

a <- true
b <- false
c <- a OR b
DISPLAY(c)

When this code is executed, the following output should be displayed:

true

NOT Operator

Finally, the other Boolean operator we’ll learn about is the NOT operator. This operator is only applied to a single Boolean value, and it is used to negate the value. This means that an input value of true will result in false, and vice-versa. This corresponds to the following truth table:

Here’s an example of using the NOT operator in pseudocode:

x <- true
y <- NOT x
DISPLAY(y)

Once again, when this code is executed, we’ll see the following output:

false

These three operators allow us to perform the basic Boolean logic operations needed to build more complex programs.