(Someone renamed my thread with the "[noise]" prefix. I have removed this stupid prefix. Anything people think really is just noise should not even be posted. I favor picking descriptive thread names, and try to do it whenever I can, rather than cluttering up thread names with cutesy labels.) At 2:44 PM -0800 11/5/96, Sean Roach wrote:
If I remember my history right, the order that math was done often depended on the model of calculator it was done on. I remember being warned as late as 1991 how some calculators may still still add before they multiply, and to use those parenthesis for good measure, just to be safe.
Well, it ain't _history_ only--it's also current. Some of us use RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) calculators exclusively. (Even my screen calculator I use on my Mac is an RPN one.) The main split is between RPN and algebraic. Algebraic calculators use parentheses to establish operator precedence and to alter precedence, RPN calculators do not. (Yes, purists will note, advanced RPN calculators have options for parentheses, brackets, and other similar things, and can even process algebraically. But not in the basic models, and the RPN computational model, being stack-based, does not require them.) To see how RPN works, visit any electronics store that carries Hewlett-Packard calculators, especially the advanced ones like the H-P 48, and read the first 5 pages of the instruction manual. It will all become clear to you. --Tim May "The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology." [NYT, 1996-10-02] We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."