Anycalculator Reverse Polish Calculator
The RPN Method: An Overview and History
If you're a frequent calculator user, you owe it to yourself to investigate the advantages of RPN. RPN stands for Reverse Polish Notation. Reverse Polish Notation was developed in 1920 by Jan Lukasiewicz as a way to write a mathematical expression without using parentheses and brackets. Hewlett-Packard Co., realizing that Lukasiewicz's method was superior to standard algebraic(1) expressions when using calculators and computers, adapted RPN for its first hand-held scientific calculator, the HP35, in 1972.
Why Use RPN? (Numb3rs Thinks Its a Good Idea)
RPN saves time and keystrokes. You never have to account for the parentheses while doing calculations. The process is similar to the way you learned math on paper. You can see the intermediary results as you perform your computations rather than just the answer at the end. This is an extremely helpful byproduct. Math teachers are using this feature to improve student understanding of mathematics. An intermediate result allows the user to check the results and correct errors more easily. It's easier to follow the stream of calculation. The user defines the priority of operators. RPN is logical because the user first gives the number and then tells what to do with it.
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