<p> This code seems to be using non-short-circuit logic (e.g., &amp;
or |)
rather than short-circuit logic (&amp;&amp; or ||).
Non-short-circuit logic causes both sides of the expression
to be evaluated even when the result can be inferred from
knowing the left-hand side. This can be less efficient and
can result in errors if the left-hand side guards cases
when evaluating the right-hand side can generate an error.

<p>See <a href="http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/expressions.html#15.22.2">the Java
Language Specification</a> for details

</p>