On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:26:04 GMT, "Karl Townsend"
remove .NOT to reply wrote:
"Don Foreman" wrote in message
.. .
I like Hewlett Packard calculators. I have two HP32SII's and a 42S,
...
To me, this is like saying I'd rather drive my car in reverse on the
freeway. Does HP still use that RPN logic? What on earth is the reason for
it and WHY would anyone like it? ( I know - I'm just troolling)
Karl
Present offerings can run in RPN or traditional mode.
RPN is useful because it eliminates parentheses. Once learned, it is
much easier to calculate complex expressions (without error) with RPN.
You do the innermost calculations (deepest level of parentheses)
first, intermediate results go on the stack, and so on.
I've been using RPN for so long I have trouble with a regular
calculator. If I don't have an HP handy I let my wife (former
beancounter) do the calculating. I don't really "need" RPN anymore,
but it's what I'm used to and comfortable with.
The advent of the PC has changed things. I now do complex
expressions in MathCAD because I can see the whole expression (and
input errors) on the screen -- and it's easy to use repetitively just
by changing a variable. It's too bad that MathCAD has gotten so
expensive with a surfeit of features. The first versions for $49
that came on one or two floppies did nearly everything I ever want to
do with it.
I wish APL (Ted Edwards' favorite) were available for Windows at
reasonable price. (I would consider $49.95 as "reasonable") There
are times when I'd find that useful for simple programs to just
compute a numerical result or set of results, or iteratively search
for a solution that meets a set of constraints. MathCAD can do it but
iterative programs with conditional branching are cumbersome to
write and the programs execute rather slowly. Any interpretive
program or "script" --BASIC,
VB, MathCAD, etc -- is considerably
slower than a program that can be compiled and executed.
Speed is less of a problem as 'puters get faster, but "programs" in
MathCAD are still a pain to write.