GNU bc ends 11-year beta test, releases 1.7(ftp.gnu.org)
ftp.gnu.org
GNU bc ends 11-year beta test, releases 1.7
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bc/
11 comments
There are very few console programs which thinks they know better than me what I want when I press Ctrl+C and bc is one of them.
As someone that has done most my maths using perl during the 90s and lately scheme, I have managed to miss BC completely.
Since some people here seem to use it daily, are there any other reasons to use it than "i am used to it" or that you actually need arbitrary precision?
Since some people here seem to use it daily, are there any other reasons to use it than "i am used to it" or that you actually need arbitrary precision?
In bc 10 / 3 => 3
It yields integer values unless started with -l option. What's up with that?
It yields integer values unless started with -l option. What's up with that?
bc has a scale variable, which determines the precision of calculations. By default it is 0, but running with -l sets it to 20 (among other things).
For those unfamiliar with bc, here's the man page:
https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/html_mono/bc.html
> an arbitrary precision calculator language
Everybody use GNU Guile already :)
Everybody use GNU Guile already :)
1.07, actually. Title is wrong.
Gah, sorry. Touch-typing failed me again.
I believe it should also be a 17-year beta test, since 1.06 was released in 2000.
What changed from 1.06 to 1.07?
Changelog: https://pastebin.com/J6gpwVBF
Unsure, but it broke compilation of the Linux kernel for me. (linux-mainline on Arch)
Why is bc even needed for a kernel compile?!?
It replaced a Perl script used to create time constants at compile time: http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-kbuild/msg07241.html
The changelog covers 16 years, and is 1500 lines long
The US president 3 times over? (According to the changelog 1.06 is from the year 2000)
Come on guys. Everyone knows real h4ck3rs are using apcalc: http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/calc-mirror.html
Care to expound on the differences between the two?
What reference am I missing here?
My high school had Calc AB, Calc BC and AP Calc.
Does anyone know why the default scale is 0 (meaning division rounds down by default)?
Historical compatibility. Back in the day you couldn't always guarantee you even had a coprocessor, so scale > 0 could get arbitrarily expensive.
To commemorate this momentous achievement, they're changing the name to `ad`
$ solve "4*49+732"