How do you get the logical xor of two variables in Python?

Performing a logical XOR (exclusive OR) operation between two variables in Python is quite straightforward once you understand how XOR works. The logical XOR returns True if exactly one of the operands is True, but not both.

How to get the logical XOR of two variables in Python?

• Using the != (not equal) operator:
  
•  Since XOR means "either one or the other, but not both," you can use the inequality operator, which returns True if the two boolean values differ:

a = True

b = False

result = a != b  # True

• Using the bitwise XOR operator ^:
  
•  Python’s ^ operator performs bitwise XOR on integers, but it also works with boolean values (True and False), treating them as 1 and 0 respectively:

a = True

b = False

result = a ^ b  # True

 This is often the most common and direct way to do logical XOR in Python.

• Using a custom function or expression:
  
•  If you prefer, you can write a function that explicitly implements logical XOR logic:

def logical_xor(x, y):

    return (x and not y) or (not x and y)

Summary:

• For boolean variables, a ^ b is the simplest and most Pythonic way to get the XOR.
  
• Alternatively, a != b also works perfectly for logical XOR.
  
• For more clarity, a function implementing (a and not b) or (not a and b) expresses the XOR logic explicitly.
  
• In daily coding, using the ^ operator for boolean XOR is concise and efficient, making your code cleaner and easier to read.