Boolvalues

Boolvalues is a term used to describe the two fundamental truth values in logic and computing: true and false. They form the core of boolean algebra and underpin conditional statements, loops, and decision-making in software and digital circuits. A boolean value represents the result of a proposition being true or false and is used to control flow, evaluate predicates, and express logical conditions.

In most programming languages, boolvalues are represented as a distinct boolean type with two literals: true and false. Some languages map booleans to integers, using 1 for true and 0 for false, while others rely on truthiness and falsiness, where various non-boolean values can be coerced to boolean in a conditional context. The distinction between a boolean type and a general truthiness concept is important: truthiness refers to how a value behaves in a boolean context, not necessarily its explicit boolean type.

Conversions and usage vary across environments. Booleans are commonly produced by comparisons, logical operations (and, or, not), and explicit casts or constructors. Many languages define rules for converting numbers, strings, or null-like values to boolvalues, which can lead to subtle bugs if the conversion semantics are misunderstood. In databases and some APIs, boolean values are represented as TRUE/FALSE, with NULL used to denote unknown in certain schemas. Understanding boolvalues helps in writing reliable conditionals, designing clear APIs, and reasoning about program logic.