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A truth table is a tabular representation of all the combinations of values for inputs and their corresponding outputs. It is a mathematical table that shows all possible outcomes that would occur from all possible scenarios that are considered factual, hence the name. Truth tables are usually used for logic problems as in Boolean algebra and electronic circuits.
Techopedia Explains Truth Table
A truth table shows the results of a logical expression, with individual columns for each involved variable, and a column for their corresponding outcomes. All variations of the inputs or arguments are listed to the left, while the output is usually placed in the last columns to the right.
Truth table example: The truth table for the logical AND
operator (2-input AND gate).
| A | B | AB |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
The earliest recorded example of the use of truth tables was that of an unpublished work by Charles Sanders Peirce, an American philosopher, mathematician and logician who is sometimes referred to as the “father of pragmatism.” This was according to research done by Irving Anellis and published in 2012 called “Peirce’s Truth-functional Analysis and the Origin of the Truth Table.”
