Boolean Logic

What Does Boolean Logic Mean?

Boolean logic is a type of computer science originally developed by mathematician George Boole in the mid-1800s. It supports a great deal of algorithmic programming and the emergence of computing functionality approaching artificial intelligence (AI).

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Boolean Logic

At its core, Boolean logic relies on some very basic operators, such as AND, OR and NOT. Experts add the operators NAND and NOR, which combine one of these operators with a negative NOT operator.

Using the above elements, developers can construct logic gates that direct the flow of computing toward various results. Boolean logic and elements like truth tables used to support logical outcomes also reveal the difference between how humans and how computers “think.”

The use of Boolean logic can help bridge the semantical difference between machine language, which is simply a combination of ones and zeros, and syntactical code language, which includes elements of human written languages.

To put it another way, humans can use Boolean logic formats and operators to boil down the code they write into concepts that approach machine language. For example, a semantic code line or model that states: “If A is 1 and B is 1, then add 1” can be reduced into a series of Boolean logical operators and values.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Latest Computer Science Terms

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…