Logical OR operator: ||

Syntax

logical-or-expression || logical-and-expression

Remarks

The logical OR operator (||) returns the boolean value true if either or both operands is true and returns false otherwise. The operands are implicitly converted to type bool before evaluation, and the result is of type bool. Logical OR has left-to-right associativity.

The operands to the logical OR operator don't have to have the same type, but they must be of boolean, integral, or pointer type. The operands are commonly relational or equality expressions.

The first operand is completely evaluated and all side effects are completed before continuing evaluation of the logical OR expression.

The second operand is evaluated only if the first operand evaluates to false, because evaluation isn't needed when the logical OR expression is true. It's known as short-circuit evaluation.

printf( "%d" , (x == w || x == y || x == z) );

In the above example, if x is equal to either w, y, or z, the second argument to the printf function evaluates to true, which is then promoted to an integer, and the value 1 is printed. Otherwise, it evaluates to false and the value 0 is printed. As soon as one of the conditions evaluates to true, evaluation stops.

Operator keyword for ||

C++ specifies or as an alternative spelling for ||. In C, the alternative spelling is provided as a macro in the <iso646.h> header. In C++, the alternative spelling is a keyword; use of <iso646.h> or the C++ equivalent <ciso646> is deprecated. In Microsoft C++, the /permissive- or /Za compiler option is required to enable the alternative spelling.

Example

// expre_Logical_OR_Operator.cpp
// compile with: /EHsc
// Demonstrate logical OR
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
   int a = 5, b = 10, c = 15;
   cout  << boolalpha
         << "The true expression "
         << "a < b || b > c yields "
         << (a < b || b > c) << endl
         << "The false expression "
         << "a > b || b > c yields "
         << (a > b || b > c) << endl;
}

See also

C++ built-in operators, precedence, and associativity
C logical operators