![]() ![]() In that light, Calca works like Excel: as you make changes to earlier parts of the calculation, those updates are propagated throughout the entire document instantly. But it’s the year 2013 and interns frustratingly demand to be paid - so I think it’s time our computer tools deal with our errors better. This was fine in the 1960s when REPLs printed out to pieces of paper and companies could afford battalions of interns with whiteout. > def average ( a, b ): return ( a + b ) / 2 > average ( 100, 200 ) 150īut I still have a lot of answers on the screen that reflect the old definition! This can be distracting or even harmful if my eyes wonder off. Let’s say I define a function, then do some calculations in Python: I also have an issue with REPLs when I make a mistake. I have used it in all my work to mean “therefore”. Hanselman calls this the Anders operator. ![]() Sounds weird huh? You need to try it (did I mention Calca is cheap?) When Calca sees that, it figures out what you want it to do, does it, and prints the result to the right of the operator. You signal to Calca that you want it to do some work using the => operator. In Calca, you can edit anywhere (it’s a text editor!). I figured that we might as well just build the REPL into the text editor itself. It’s telling that most serious users of REPLs couple them to a text editor so that their work can always be saved. Some REPLs make this easy, others laugh at you. What’s 2 + 2? That’s about all I have to type to get an answer.īut one line for input? Even with readline, I get frustrated.Īnd then there is that issue of saving your work. I love them for their convenience and speed. I have always had a love/hate relationship with REPLs. You get one line of input and the program dumps text out on a console at you. Please allow me to elaborate on these goals: A text editor?Ĭomputer algebra systems are well defined: they’re REPLs. As easy to use and as fast as a text editor.One day, when it came time for me to write the Jacobian of a system of six functions each involving a quaternion with six different variables, I decided that neither Sublime Text nor the physical pen and paper were adequate. It’s sad that I can write and manipulate mathematics on a sheet of paper more efficiently than I can with a computer in front of me. When it becomes too tedious, I resort to pen and paper. I write out equations and then, line be line, manipulate them into useful forms. These simple mathematics often get relegated to Sublime Text or Text Mate. Other times, I’m just trying to avoid off-by-one indexing errors in my code! As a programmer, this is natural - it’s very difficult to write an app without ever using addition! But I also write complicated apps - I often wonder if I will release an app that doesn’t require the calculation of a Jacobian. Get it on the iOS App Store.Ĭalca has been my obsession over the last three months - one that grew out of a frustration. It’s available on the App Store now for iPhone and iPad: it’s cheap and crazy powerful. I am very pleased to announce the availability of Calca, my newest iOS app (and soon OS X app). ![]()
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