21–30 of 57 posts
Calc is so useful to have right there. I have never used Windows calc since discovering the emacs one many years ago. Once I got used to it I had to find an RPN one for my phone (RealCalc and PCalc for Android and IOS, respectively). Algebraic formulas are great but beyond my typical reuse recall duration.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
Being an old HP48 user, finding Calc was what me fall the rest of the way in love with Emacs. If I'm at the shell prompt I'll still startup GP/Pari for quick calculations, but it's hard to beat Calc for longer sessions. The only downside is that, like any advanced Emacs functionality, if you don't use it frequently you forget all the commands.
I might buy another HP28 for the car. :D
Calc is so useful to have right there. I have never used Windows calc since discovering the emacs one many years ago. Once I got used to it I had to find an RPN one for my phone (RealCalc and PCalc for Android and IOS, respectively). Algebraic formulas are great but beyond my typical reuse recall duration.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
After you get used to it, you end up being able to calculate much more quickly. It's basically having a little Forth machine in your hand or at the end of your keyboard.
Calc is so useful to have right there. I have never used Windows calc since discovering the emacs one many years ago. Once I got used to it I had to find an RPN one for my phone (RealCalc and PCalc for Android and IOS, respectively). Algebraic formulas are great but beyond my typical reuse recall duration.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
".. it gives you more insight into your calculations than using the ‘algebraic’ systems used by other calculators and it keeps you and not your calculator (see Appendix D) in command of what is calculated."
Calc is so useful to have right there. I have never used Windows calc since discovering the emacs one many years ago. Once I got used to it I had to find an RPN one for my phone (RealCalc and PCalc for Android and IOS, respectively). Algebraic formulas are great but beyond my typical reuse recall duration.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
Second reason, RPN systems are typically open: I or others can add operations. That’s pretty rare in an algebraic machine, though not completely nonexistent.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
After you get used to it, you end up being able to calculate much more quickly. It's basically having a little Forth machine in your hand or at the end of your keyboard.
The joy of never, ever having to type a parenthesis must be experienced to be appreciated.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you explain why you feel RPN is better for you ? I've never been able to get used to it... Maybe I get it wrong...
Two reasons. With an algebraic system, I have to plan ahead and add open parentheses, or reorder, to do what I want. With a stack, I can always push/dup, then roll or pop back. It’s the same reason I like having function calls and a call stack when programming, compared to APL. Second reason, RPN systems are typically open: I or others can add operations. That’s pretty rare in an algebraic machine, though not complet…
The classic example
3 + 4 7 + 8
----- + -----
5 + 6 9 + 2
3 ^ 4 + 5 ^ 6 + / 7 ^ 8 + 9 ^ 2 + / +Since then I am practically a daily user.
It's not without downsides, and some simple workflows that seem common and trivial to me personally feel a bit awkward and contorting. For example, working with variables/equations, with that '=>' "operator", is rather strange. There also seems to be no support for hex numbers in 0x-prefixed lowercase notation, which makes it hard to impossible to just copy and paste hex numbers for programming. And while emacs-calc has a very impressive scientific unit system, often I just want to use unit prefixes, like u,m,M for micro,milli,Mega respectively, without having to resort to using actual physical units in my calculations (and then finding out again how to simplify appropriately).
I also almost don't use the trail at all, mostly because its navigation and actioning feels tedious and downright archaic, making me think that emacs-calc probably started out a few decades ago, with a specific, now outdated, terminal paradigm in mind.
But all in all, it's pretty impressive, and fills the role as my daily companion for quick, and sometimes more elaborate, computations well.