# 3.1. Boolean Expressions¶

Boolean variables or expressions can only have true or false values.

## 3.1.1. Testing Equality (==)¶

The operators == and != (not equal) can be used to compare values. They return true or false boolean values.

Note

One = sign changes the value of a variable. Two == equal signs are used to test if a variable holds a certain value, without changing its value!

Watch the following video which shows what happens in memory as primitive types like int and reference types like Dog are compared with == in a physical model of Java memory.

The following code shows how == is used with primitive types like int.

What will the code below print out? Try to guess before you run it! Note that 1 equal sign (=) is used for assigning a value and 2 equal signs (==) for testing values.

We can also use == or != to test if two reference values, like Turtle and String objects, refer to the same object. In the figure below, we are creating two separate Turtle objects called juan and mia. They do not refer to same object or turtle. Then, we create a reference variable called friend that is set to mia. The turtle mia will have two ways (references or aliases) to name her – she’s both mia and friend, and these variables refer to the same object (same Turtle) in memory. If two reference variables refer to the same object like the turtle on the right in the image below, the test with == will return true which you can see in the code below.

Coding Exercise

What will the code below print out? Try to guess before you run it!

## 3.1.2. Relational Operators (<, >)¶

The Relational Operators below in Java are used to compare numeric values or arithmetic expressions. Although some programming languages allow using relational operators like < to compare strings, Java only uses these operators for numbers, and uses the string methods compareTo() and equals() for comparing String values.

• < Less Than

• > Greater Than

• <= Less than or equal to

• >= Greater than or equal to

• == Equals

• != Does not equal

If you have trouble telling < and > apart, think of a number line and think of < and > as arrows; < (less than) points towards 0 and smaller numbers on the number line and > (greater than) points towards the larger numbers on the number line. Or remember that < starts with the smaller (less) point and > starts with the open wide (greater) side. With <= and >=, remember to write the two symbols in the order that you would say them “less than” followed by “or equal to”.

Coding Exercise

Try to guess what the code below will print out before you run it.

## 3.1.3. Testing with mod (%)¶

Here are some boolean expressions that are very useful in coding and mod is used in many of them:

// Test if a number is positive
(number > 0)
//Test if a number is negative
(number < 0)
//Test if a number is even by seeing if the remainder is 0 when divided by 2
(number % 2 == 0)
//Test if a number is odd by seeing if there is a remainder when divided by 2
(number % 2 > 0)
//Test if a number is a multiple of x (or divisible by x with no remainder)
(number % x == 0)


Try the expressions containing the % operator below to see how they can be used to check for even or odd numbers. All even numbers are divisible (with no remainder) by 2.

The modulo operator has been used quite a bit on the AP CS A exam, so you should be familiar with it.

• Use it to check for odd or even numbers (num % 2 == 1) is odd and (num % 2 == 0) is even. Actually, you can use it to check if any number is evenly divisible by another (num1 % num2 == 0)

• Use it to get the last digit from an integer number (num % 10 = last digit on right).

• Use it to get the number of minutes left when you convert to hours (num % 60).

• Use it whenever you have limit in the value, and you need to wrap around to the front if the value goes over the limit (num % limit).

## 3.1.4. Programming Challenge : Prime Numbers POGIL¶

We encourage you to do this activity as a POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) group activity or using Think-Pair-Share collaboration. POGIL groups are self-managed teams of 4 students where everyone has a POGIL role and works together to solve the problems, making sure that everyone in the team participates and learns.

In this activity, you will use boolean expressions to explore prime numbers. A prime number is an integer number that is only divisible by 1 and itself. For example, 3 is a prime number because it’s only divisible by 1 and 3 and no other numbers, but 4 is not a prime number because it’s divisible by 2 as well as 1 and 4.

Prime numbers are very useful in encryption algorithms because they can be used as keys for encoding and decoding. If you have the key, you can use it to divide a large number that represents something encrypted to decode it, but if you don’t have the key, it’s very hard to guess the factors of a large number to decode it. If you’re curious about this, watch this Numberphile video.

The following program checks if 5 is a prime number by seeing if it is divisible by the numbers 1 - 5. Run the code, and then answer the following questions.

1. Is 5 a prime number?

2. What boolean tests determine that a number is prime?

3. Change the number to 6 and add more boolean expressions to determine if 6 is prime. Is 6 prime?

4. Change the number to 7 and add more boolean expressions to determine if 7 is prime. Is 7 prime?

5. If you changed the boolean expressions to use <= instead of ==, would the code still help you to find prime numbers? Why or why not? Experiment and find out.

6. If you changed the boolean expressions to use >= instead of ==, would the code still help you to find prime numbers? Why or why not? Experiment and find out.

7. Are all odd numbers prime? Can you find one that is not by using boolean expressions in the code below?

8. Are all even numbers not prime? Can you find an even prime number?

Experiment with the code below changing the value of number and adding more print statements with boolean expressions to determine if the numbers 5, 6, and 7 are prime. Are all odd numbers prime? Are all even numbers not prime?

## 3.1.5. Summary¶

• Primitive values and reference values can be compared using relational operators (i.e., == and !=) in Java.

• Arithmetic expression values can be compared using relational operators (i.e., <, >, <=, >=) in Java.

• An expression involving relational operators evaluates to a Boolean value of true or false.

## 3.1.7. Relational Operators Practice Game¶

Try the game below to practice. Click on Relationals, evaluate the relational expression and click on None, All, or the numbers that make the expression true. Check on Compound for an added challenge. We encourage you to work in pairs and see how high a score you can get.