[olug] olug] Unix Tip: BC AND NOT BEFORE AD

[Thom Harrison]

For those of you who like Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) try dc.
I didn't see anything about base conversions in the man page though.

Given the equation:

(1+2)*(3+4)
----------- = ?
   (5+6)

Normal Calculator: ((1+2)*(3+4))/(5+6)=          Twenty Keystrokes
   RPN Calculator: 1 E 2 + 3 E 4 + * 5 E 6 + /   Fourteen Keystrokes
*** "E" is short for "Enter"

Plus you get the advantage that you got the answer to each subpart of the problem, ( e.g. numerator and denominator ) and that you never had to count the dreaded parenthesis to make sure they matched up.

RPN rocks!  I'm sure those of you that own RPN-based HP calculators agree.

Thom