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HP Calcs Live On Under PalmOS
philipsblows writes "Emulators for HP Calcs have been around for a while, but HP is actually getting behind this one, allowing ROM images to be included to support emulation of 48sx, 48gx and 49g (all separately and at the same time) on your PalmOS device. Unfortunately, it has to be a color device, but this is great news anyone who would otherwise miss out on using an HP calc. Check out Power48 here." And unlike a calculator, the software is free (and Free).
I never realized that HP calculators died? Have they stopped selling them? Granted I've had my 48gx since 1995 and never looked at another calculator since then. What do people use these days? I've actually seen fewer calculators used as they get replaced with Matlab or Maple or Mathematica being more and more at hand for people, but I still find myself reaching for my 48gx even when I am near a computer just because they're so convenient.
As far as I know, the unique feature of HP calculators is that they use reverse polish notation by default so I expect that is what this one uses.
RPN is similar to stacking languages where the variables are pushed onto the stack first and then the operators are applied to the appropriate stack entries. So, a + b x c should be entered as b c x a + and (a + b) x c should be entered as a b + c x
Similar to other stacking languages like Postscript and SmallTalk.
Note that this should be the same as the desktop "dc" command on linux except that dc is only good for integers (and you need to enter "=" to see the result). I routinely add a few extra significant digits when using dc so that I can deal with fractional values. Works nicely occasionally when doing command line scripting.