AI engineering glossary · Python core
What is short-circuit evaluation?
Short-circuit evaluation: The rule that and/or stop evaluating as soon as the result is known. In A and B, B is skipped if A is false; in A or B, B is skipped if A is true. This avoids unnecessary work and can guard against errors.
Short-circuit evaluation: an example
if d != 0 and total / d > 2: never divides by zero, because when d is 0 the second part is not evaluated.
Related terms
More Python core terms
Where you learn it
Short-circuit evaluation is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.