Definition:Binding Priority

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Definition

The binding priority is the convention defining the order of binding strength of the individual connectives in a logical formula.


Binding priorities can be overridden by using parenthesis in appropriate places.

Parenthesis always takes priority over conventional binding priority.


Binding Priority of Connectives of Propositional Logic

The binding priority convention which is almost universally used for the connectives of propositional logic is:

$(1): \quad \neg$ binds more tightly than $\lor$ and $\land$
$(2): \quad \lor$ and $\land$ bind more tightly than $\implies$ and $\impliedby$
$(3): \quad \implies$ and $\impliedby$ bind more tightly than $\iff$

Note that there is no overall convention defining which of $\land$ and $\lor$ bears a higher binding priority, and therefore we consider them to have equal priority.

Because of this fact, unless specifically defined, expressions such as $p \land q \lor r$ can not be interpreted unambiguously, and parenthesis must be used to determine the exact priorities which are to be used to interpret particular statements which may otherwise be ambiguous.

Most sources do not recognise the use of $\impliedby$ as a separate connective from $\implies$, so the binding priority of one over the other is rarely a question.


Binding Priority of Connectives of Arithmetic

The binding priority convention used for arithmetic and algebra is:

$(1): \quad$ the exponential and power operators take highest binding priority
$(2): \quad \times$ and $\div$ bind more tightly than $+$ and $-$
$(3): \quad$ In all other cases, expressions are evaluated from left to right.


Also known as

Binding priority is also known as:


Also see

  • Results about binding priority can be found here.


Sources

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