Re:Why is Common Lisp not the most popular programming langu...
by jjav on Wednesday February 14, 2024 @07:26PM
(#39377541)
> For simple stuff, sure. Try -b±√(b²-4ac))/2a. Or anything complicated really.
In anything complicated and long is where RPN shines the brightest!
If it's 2+2 I don't care whether I type 2+2 or 2 2 +. But for long complex equations, give me RPN every time. All my calculators are set to RPN mode (if it doesn't have RPN mode, I'm not using it).
I know it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do it is a huge advantage. Particularly great for university tests where speed matters.
Re:Why is Common Lisp not the most popular programming langu...
by sliken on Wednesday February 14, 2024 @07:42PM
(#39377673)
Indeed, great for speed and correctness.
It also makes awesome use of a multiline display, even an extra 3 lines to see the stack is a game changer. Without RPN I just use the extra area for graphing.
It's especially useful for unit conversions, since with prefix you never see the intermediate values.
It's really nice to have something complicated, being able to sanity check intermediate values, and having a visible stack made things crazy easier.
I had friends in high school, for anything non trivial they would call out "anyone get 123.5 for the answer?". Look at me, and if they didn't get my answer they would try again.
So sure, postfix is easier for the simple stuff (which is easy either way), but postfix is MUCH easier for anything non-trivial.