Delphi Language Guide Delphi for Microsoft Win32 Delphi for the Microsoft. Net framework

Boolean Operators
The Boolean operators not, and, or, and xor take operands of any Boolean type and return a value of type Boolean.
Boolean Operators
Operator Operation
Operand Types Result Type Example
not
negation
Boolean
Boolean
not (C in MySet)
and
conjunction
Boolean
Boolean
Done and (Total > 0)
or
disjunction
Boolean
Boolean
A or B
49

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xor
exclusive disjunction Boolean
Boolean
A xor B
These operations are governed by standard rules of Boolean logic. For example, an expression of the form 
x and
y
 is True if and only if both 
x
 and 
y
 are True.
Complete Versus Short-Circuit Boolean Evaluation
The compiler supports two modes of evaluation for the and and or operators: complete evaluation and short-circuit
(partial) evaluation. Complete evaluation means that each conjunct or disjunct is evaluated, even when the result of
the entire expression is already determined. Short-circuit evaluation means strict left-to-right evaluation that stops
as soon as the result of the entire expression is determined. For example, if the expression 
A and B
 is evaluated
under short-circuit mode when 
A
 is False, the compiler won't evaluate 
B
; it knows that the entire expression is False
as soon as it evaluates 
A
.
Short-circuit evaluation is usually preferable because it guarantees minimum execution time and, in most cases,
minimum code size. Complete evaluation is sometimes convenient when one operand is a function with side effects
that alter the execution of the program.
Short-circuit evaluation also allows the use of constructions that might otherwise result in illegal runtime operations.
For example, the following code iterates through the string 
S
, up to the first comma.
while (I <= Length(S)) and (S[I] <> ',') do
             begin
                  ...
                  Inc(I);
             end;
In the case where 
S
 has no commas, the last iteration increments 
I
 to a value which is greater than the length of
S
. When the while condition is next tested, complete evaluation results in an attempt to read 
S[I]
, which could
cause a runtime error. Under short-circuit evaluation, in contrast, the second part of the while condition 
(S[I] <>
',')
 is not evaluated after the first part fails.
Use the 
$B
 compiler directive to control evaluation mode. The default state is 
{$B}
, which enables short-circuit
evaluation. To enable complete evaluation locally, add the 
{$B+}
 directive to your code. You can also switch to
complete evaluation on a project-wide basis by selecting Complete Boolean Evaluation in the Compiler
Options dialog (all source units will need to be recompiled).
Note:
If either operand involves a Variant, the compiler always performs complete evaluation (even in the 
{$B}
state).