Benefits of using short-circuit evaluation

boolean a = false, b = true;
if ( a && b ) { ... };

(a) if ( ( a != null ) && ( a.equals(b) ) ) { ... }

(b) if ( ( a == 4 ) && ( b == 5 ) )

open($filename) or die("couldn't open file");

do_something || echo "that failed"

if ((obj != 0) && (obj->ready)) { do_something; } // not -> in Java of course.

if ( ConfirmAction() && DestroyAllData() )
   Reboot();

if ( myDodgyVar != null && myDodgyVar.IsActive() )
   DoSomethingWith(myDodgyVar);

IF A And B THEN
    ...
END IF

IF A AndAlso B THEN
    ...
END IF

If MyObj IsNot Nothing AndAlso MyObj.Value < SomeValue Then
    ....
End If

if (a != null && a.equals(somevalue)) {
    ... do something.
}

if (someObject.isActive() && someOtherObject.isActive() && CollisionDetection.collides(someObject, someOtherObject) {
  doSomething();
}

a = obj.somethingQuickToTest() && obj.somethingSlowToTest();

a = false;
if(obj.somethingQuickToTest())
   a = obj.somethingSlowToTest();