The central component of an RPN calculator is the stack. A calculator stack is like a stack of dishes. New dishes (numbers) are added at the top of the stack, and numbers are normally only removed from the top of the stack.
In an operation like 2+3, the 2 and 3 are called the operands and the + is the operator. In an RPN calculator you always enter the operands first, then the operator. Each time you type a number, Calc adds or pushes it onto the top of the Stack. When you press an operator key like +, Calc pops the appropriate number of operands from the stack and pushes back the result.
Thus we could add the numbers 2 and 3 in an RPN calculator by typing: 2 RET 3 RET +. (The RET key, Return, corresponds to the ENTER key on traditional RPN calculators.) Try this now if you wish; type M-# c to switch into the Calc window (you can type M-# c again or M-# o to switch back to the Tutorial window). The first four keystrokes "push" the numbers 2 and 3 onto the stack. The + key "pops" the top two numbers from the stack, adds them, and pushes the result (5) back onto the stack. Here's how the stack will look at various points throughout the calculation:
. 1: 2 2: 2 1: 5 .
. 1: 3 .
.
M-# c 2 RET 3 RET + DEL
The `.' symbol is a marker that represents the top of the stack. Note that the "top" of the stack is really shown at the bottom of the Stack window. This may seem backwards, but it turns out to be less distracting in regular use.
The numbers `1:' and `2:' on the left are stack level numbers. Old RPN calculators always had four stack levels called x, y, z, and t. Calc's stack can grow as large as you like, so it uses numbers instead of letters. Some stack-manipulation commands accept a numeric argument that says which stack level to work on. Normal commands like + always work on the top few levels of the stack.
The Stack buffer is just an Emacs buffer, and you can move around in it using the regular Emacs motion commands. But no matter where the cursor is, even if you have scrolled the `.' marker out of view, most Calc commands always move the cursor back down to level 1 before doing anything. It is possible to move the `.' marker upwards through the stack, temporarily "hiding" some numbers from commands like +. This is called stack truncation and we will not cover it in this tutorial; see section Truncating the Stack, if you are interested.
You don't really need the second RET in 2 RET 3 RET +. That's because if you type any operator name or other non-numeric key when you are entering a number, the Calculator automatically enters that number and then does the requested command. Thus 2 RET 3 + will work just as well.
Examples in this tutorial will often omit RET even when the stack displays shown would only happen if you did press RET:
1: 2 2: 2 1: 5
. 1: 3 .
.
2 RET 3 +
Here, after pressing 3 the stack would really show `1: 2' with `Calc: 3' in the minibuffer. In these situations, you can press the optional RET to see the stack as the figure shows.
(*) Exercise 1. (This tutorial will include exercises at various points. Try them if you wish. Answers to all the exercises are located at the end of the Tutorial chapter. Each exercise will include a cross-reference to its particular answer. If you are reading with the Emacs Info system, press f and the exercise number to go to the answer, then the letter l to return to where you were.)
Here's the first exercise: What will the keystrokes 1 RET 2 RET 3 RET 4 + * - compute? (`*' is the symbol for multiplication.) Figure it out by hand, then try it with Calc to see if you're right. See section RPN Tutorial Exercise 1. (*)
(*) Exercise 2. Compute @c{$(2\times4) + (7\times9.4) + {5\over4}$} 2*4 + 7*9.5 + 5/4 using the stack. See section RPN Tutorial Exercise 2. (*)
The DEL key is called Backspace on some keyboards. It is whatever key you would use to correct a simple typing error when regularly using Emacs. The DEL key pops and throws away the top value on the stack. (You can still get that value back from the Trail if you should need it later on.) There are many places in this tutorial where we assume you have used DEL to erase the results of the previous example at the beginning of a new example. In the few places where it is really important to use DEL to clear away old results, the text will remind you to do so.
(It won't hurt to let things accumulate on the stack, except that whenever you give a display-mode-changing command Calc will have to spend a long time reformatting such a large stack.)
Since the - key is also an operator (it subtracts the top two stack elements), how does one enter a negative number? Calc uses the _ (underscore) key to act like the minus sign in a number. So, typing -5 RET won't work because the - key will try to do a subtraction, but _5 RET works just fine.
You can also press n, which means "change sign." It changes the number at the top of the stack (or the number being entered) from positive to negative or vice-versa: 5 n RET.
If you press RET when you're not entering a number, the effect is to duplicate the top number on the stack. Consider this calculation:
1: 3 2: 3 1: 9 2: 9 1: 81
. 1: 3 . 1: 9 .
. .
3 RET RET * RET *
(Of course, an easier way to do this would be 3 RET 4 ^, to raise 3 to the fourth power.)
The space-bar key (denoted SPC here) performs the same function as RET; you could replace all three occurrences of RET in the above example with SPC and the effect would be the same.
Another stack manipulation key is TAB. This exchanges the top two stack entries. Suppose you have computed 2 RET 3 + to get 5, and then you realize what you really wanted to compute was 20 / (2+3).
1: 5 2: 5 2: 20 1: 4
. 1: 20 1: 5 .
. .
2 RET 3 + 20 TAB /
Planning ahead, the calculation would have gone like this:
1: 20 2: 20 3: 20 2: 20 1: 4
. 1: 2 2: 2 1: 5 .
. 1: 3 .
.
20 RET 2 RET 3 + /
A related stack command is M-TAB (hold META and type TAB). It rotates the top three elements of the stack upward, bringing the object in level 3 to the top.
1: 10 2: 10 3: 10 3: 20 3: 30
. 1: 20 2: 20 2: 30 2: 10
. 1: 30 1: 10 1: 20
. . .
10 RET 20 RET 30 RET M-TAB M-TAB
(*) Exercise 3. Suppose the numbers 10, 20, and 30 are on the stack. Figure out how to add one to the number in level 2 without affecting the rest of the stack. Also figure out how to add one to the number in level 3. See section RPN Tutorial Exercise 3. (*)
Operations like +, -, *, /, and ^ pop two arguments from the stack and push a result. Operations like n and Q (square root) pop a single number and push the result. You can think of them as simply operating on the top element of the stack.
1: 3 1: 9 2: 9 1: 25 1: 5
. . 1: 16 . .
.
3 RET RET * 4 RET RET * + Q
(Note that capital Q means to hold down the Shift key while typing q. Remember, plain unshifted q is the Quit command.)
Here we've used the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Calc actually has a built-in command for that called f h, but let's suppose we can't remember the necessary keystrokes. We can still enter it by its full name using M-x notation:
1: 3 2: 3 1: 5
. 1: 4 .
.
3 RET 4 RET M-x calc-hypot
All Calculator commands begin with the word `calc-'. Since it gets tiring to type this, Calc provides an x key which is just like the regular Emacs M-x key except that it types the `calc-' prefix for you:
1: 3 2: 3 1: 5
. 1: 4 .
.
3 RET 4 RET x hypot
What happens if you take the square root of a negative number?
1: 4 1: -4 1: (0, 2)
. . .
4 RET n Q
The notation (a, b) represents a complex number. Complex numbers are more traditionally written @c{$a + b i$} a + b i; Calc can display in this format, too, but for now we'll stick to the (a, b) notation.
If you don't know how complex numbers work, you can safely ignore this feature. Complex numbers only arise from operations that would be errors in a calculator that didn't have complex numbers. (For example, taking the square root or logarithm of a negative number produces a complex result.)
Complex numbers are entered in the notation shown. The ( and , and ) keys manipulate "incomplete complex numbers."
1: ( ... 2: ( ... 1: (2, ... 1: (2, ... 1: (2, 3)
. 1: 2 . 3 .
. .
( 2 , 3 )
You can perform calculations while entering parts of incomplete objects. However, an incomplete object cannot actually participate in a calculation:
1: ( ... 2: ( ... 3: ( ... 1: ( ... 1: ( ...
. 1: 2 2: 2 5 5
. 1: 3 . .
.
(error)
( 2 RET 3 + +
Adding 5 to an incomplete object makes no sense, so the last command produces an error message and leaves the stack the same.
Incomplete objects can't participate in arithmetic, but they can be moved around by the regular stack commands.
2: 2 3: 2 3: 3 1: ( ... 1: (2, 3)
1: 3 2: 3 2: ( ... 2 .
. 1: ( ... 1: 2 3
. . .
2 RET 3 RET ( M-TAB M-TAB )
Note that the , (comma) key did not have to be used here. When you press ) all the stack entries between the incomplete entry and the top are collected, so there's never really a reason to use the comma. It's up to you.
(*) Exercise 4. To enter the complex number (2, 3), your friend Joe typed ( 2 , SPC 3 ). What happened? (Joe thought of a clever way to correct his mistake in only two keystrokes, but it didn't quite work. Try it to find out why.) See section RPN Tutorial Exercise 4. (*)
Vectors are entered the same way as complex numbers, but with square brackets in place of parentheses. We'll meet vectors again later in the tutorial.
Any Emacs command can be given a numeric prefix argument by typing a series of META-digits beforehand. If META is awkward for you, you can instead type C-u followed by the necessary digits. Numeric prefix arguments can be negative, as in M-- M-3 M-5 or C-u - 3 5. Calc commands use numeric prefix arguments in a variety of ways. For example, a numeric prefix on the + operator adds any number of stack entries at once:
1: 10 2: 10 3: 10 3: 10 1: 60
. 1: 20 2: 20 2: 20 .
. 1: 30 1: 30
. .
10 RET 20 RET 30 RET C-u 3 +
For stack manipulation commands like RET, a positive numeric prefix argument operates on the top n stack entries at once. A negative argument operates on the entry in level n only. An argument of zero operates on the entire stack. In this example, we copy the second-to-top element of the stack:
1: 10 2: 10 3: 10 3: 10 4: 10
. 1: 20 2: 20 2: 20 3: 20
. 1: 30 1: 30 2: 30
. . 1: 20
.
10 RET 20 RET 30 RET C-u -2 RET
Another common idiom is M-0 DEL, which clears the stack. (The M-0 numeric prefix tells DEL to operate on the entire stack.)