outputwhether

Outputwhether is a term used in computer science and software design to denote a function, operator, or procedure that produces a boolean result indicating whether a given condition holds for a particular input. The name is a portmanteau of "output" and "whether," emphasizing its role in emitting a true or false indication rather than computing a value of another type. It is not a standard keyword in mainstream programming languages and is primarily discussed in informal or educational contexts and pseudocode.

In formal terms, outputwhether can be modeled as a higher‑order function that accepts a predicate and an input and returns a boolean: outputwhether(Predicate, x) = Predicate(x). In languages with booleans, it may be implemented as a small wrapper that returns true if the predicate is satisfied and false otherwise.

Example: outputwhether(x > 10, x) yields true when x > 10; false otherwise. In data processing, a workflow might use outputwhether(is_valid(record), record) to set a validity flag.

Usage considerations: The construct is mainly for readability in pseudocode and demonstrations. In real code, explicit boolean expressions or the language's built‑in predicate evaluation are usually preferred. Potential variants include using predicate functions named isX, or using guard clauses to branch on the result.

Related concepts include booleans, predicates, guards, and naming conventions for predicate functions.