miscon:programming.booleans.must-compare-with-literal · draft · trust low · v0.1.1 · kind undergeneralization

A boolean must be compared with true to be used as a condition

A boolean variable or expression cannot be used directly as a condition; it has to be compared with true or false first, and a comparison is the only thing that produces a condition.

Stable URI: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.booleans.must-compare-with-literal
UUID: 1e4090f5-0d1e-4bf3-af12-7671e11aaf09
Domain: programming.boolean
Level band: secondary, undergraduate
Locale: en
About: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.booleans.expression (Miscon)

Evidence patterns

Pattern 0: write a condition from a boolean variable

writes == true (or == True) and cannot explain what if done: alone would do

Itemdone is a boolean. Write the condition for 'if done'.

Expectedif done:

Responseif done == True:

The == True form runs correctly, so this is only diagnosable by asking, or from a follow-up item.

Pattern 1: return a boolean from a comparison

wraps the comparison in if/else returning literal true and false

ItemReturn whether n is even.

Expectedreturn n % 2 == 0

Response

if n % 2 == 0:
    return True
else:
    return False

Discriminators

vs a slip. A slip is a stylistic habit the learner can drop when asked. The belief is the claim that if done: is invalid or that a comparison is not a value.

Relations

conflicts_with: A boolean expression is itself a value (external)
resolved_by: A boolean expression is itself a value (external)

Alignments

progmiscon Java/ComparisonWithBooleanLiteral (close-match)
progmiscon Python/ComparisonWithBoolLiteral (close-match)
progmiscon Python/MapToBooleanWithIf (close-match)

Provenance

Origin: llm-drafted

Chiodini, L., Moreno Santos, I., Gallidabino, A., Tafliovich, A., Santos, A. L., & Hauswirth, M. (2021). A curated inventory of programming language misconceptions. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '21), 380-386. doi:10.1145/3430665.3456343
Inventory consulted for the misconception name and scope only; progmiscon publishes no licence for its text, so Open Misconceptions' statements and examples are written independently.

Drafted from the cited literature for the Open Misconceptions seed pack; statement, examples and discriminators are original text. Awaiting maintainer review.

Review status

Status draft, trust low (computed from the reviews below against the reviewer registry).

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Formats

Raw JSON
CASE 1.1 package (CFItem 1e4090f5-0d1e-4bf3-af12-7671e11aaf09)
Source on GitHub

Cite

miscon:programming.booleans.must-compare-with-literal
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.booleans.must-compare-with-literal