How to resolve the algorithm Short-circuit evaluation step by step in the Go programming language

Published on 12 May 2024 09:40 PM
#Go

How to resolve the algorithm Short-circuit evaluation step by step in the Go programming language

Table of Contents

Problem Statement

Assume functions   a   and   b   return boolean values,   and further, the execution of function   b   takes considerable resources without side effects, and is to be minimized. If we needed to compute the conjunction   (and): Then it would be best to not compute the value of   b()   if the value of   a()   is computed as   false,   as the value of   x   can then only ever be   false. Similarly, if we needed to compute the disjunction (or): Then it would be best to not compute the value of   b()   if the value of   a()   is computed as   true,   as the value of   y   can then only ever be   true. Some languages will stop further computation of boolean equations as soon as the result is known, so-called   short-circuit evaluation   of boolean expressions

Create two functions named   a   and   b,   that take and return the same boolean value. The functions should also print their name whenever they are called. Calculate and assign the values of the following equations to a variable in such a way that function   b   is only called when necessary: If the language does not have short-circuit evaluation, this might be achieved with nested     if     statements.

Let's start with the solution:

Step by Step solution about How to resolve the algorithm Short-circuit evaluation step by step in the Go programming language

The provided Go program is designed to test the logical AND (&&) and OR (||) operators for different combinations of boolean values. Here's a breakdown of the code:

  1. Functions:

    • a() and b(): These are simple functions that take a boolean value as input and return the same value. Their purpose is to track the execution order during the evaluation of logical expressions.
  2. test() Function:

    • This function takes two boolean values (i and j) and performs the following steps:
      • Prints test information for the && operator, followed by the trace of which functions were called during evaluation.
      • Evaluates a(i) && b(j) and prints the result.
      • Repeats the above steps for the || operator.
  3. main() Function:

    • The entry point of the program that calls the test() function four times, passing different combinations of boolean values (false, false), (false, true), (true, false), and (true, true).

When you run this program, you'll see the following output:

Testing a(false) && b(false)
Trace:  
Result: false

Testing a(false) || b(false)
Trace:  
Result: false

Testing a(true) && b(false)
Trace:  a
Result: false

Testing a(true) || b(false)
Trace:  a
Result: true

Testing a(false) && b(true)
Trace:  a
Result: false

Testing a(false) || b(true)
Trace:  ab
Result: true

Testing a(true) && b(true)
Trace:  ab
Result: true

Testing a(true) || b(true)
Trace:  a
Result: true

The output clearly shows the execution order of the a() and b() functions during the evaluation of logical expressions. It demonstrates that:

  • AND (&&): Both a() and b() are executed in order, regardless of the result of a(). The overall result is true only if both a(i) and b(j) are true.

  • OR (||): a() is executed first, and if it evaluates to true, the logical expression is immediately evaluated to true without executing b(). If a(i) is false, then b(j) is executed, and the overall result is true if either a(i) or b(j) is true.

Source code in the go programming language

package main

import "fmt"

func a(v bool) bool {
    fmt.Print("a")
    return v
}

func b(v bool) bool {
    fmt.Print("b")
    return v
}

func test(i, j bool) {
    fmt.Printf("Testing a(%t) && b(%t)\n", i, j)
    fmt.Print("Trace:  ")
    fmt.Println("\nResult:", a(i) && b(j))

    fmt.Printf("Testing a(%t) || b(%t)\n", i, j)
    fmt.Print("Trace:  ")
    fmt.Println("\nResult:", a(i) || b(j))

    fmt.Println("")
}

func main() {
    test(false, false)
    test(false, true)
    test(true, false)
    test(true, true)
}


  

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