Re:Wall Street's Cult Calculator Turns 30
by bitwize on Tuesday May 03, 2011 @07:05PM
(#2512030)
RPN saved my butt in chemistry class.
I was taking the final, and the professor lent me his calculator. It was an HP RPN, and he said he didn't know how to use it. I figured it out quickly enough -- as a computer guy I know how stacks work -- and went to town banging out calculations on that thing in record speed.
Since speed is an essential part of test-taking, and I was notoriously slow at doing calculations, I was at real risk of flunking the exam and the course. As it is I saved my bacon. Thank you, HP! Thank you, RPN!
I was taking the final, and the professor lent me his calculator. It was an HP RPN, and he said he didn't know how to use it. I figured it out quickly enough -- as a computer guy I know how stacks work -- and went to town banging out calculations on that thing in record speed.
Since speed is an essential part of test-taking, and I was notoriously slow at doing calculations, I was at real risk of flunking the exam and the course. As it is I saved my bacon. Thank you, HP! Thank you, RPN!