537
Whats your such opinion (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 11 months ago by cryptix@discuss.tchncs.de to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] blindsight@beehaw.org 7 points 11 months ago

I like base 12 a lot, but Reverse Polish Notation is a mess when you get up to working with polynomials.

With polynomials, you're moving around terms on either side of an equation, and you combine positive terms and negative terms. In essence, there's no such thing as subtraction. (Similarly, division is a lie; you're actually just working with numerators and denominators.)

Reverse Polish Notation makes that a mess since it separates the sign from its term.

Also, RPN draws a distinction between negative values and subtraction, but conceptually there is no subtraction with polynomials, it's all just negative terms. (Or negating a polynomial to get its additive inverse.)

But, yeah. It's a shame we don't use base 12 more.

[-] zagaberoo@beehaw.org 4 points 11 months ago

That's super interesting. I adore RPN on caclulators and had never heard any drawbacks well-articulated.

[-] AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 2 points 11 months ago

RPN is a great way to type things into computers -- it's easier for the computer to parse, too -- but it kind of sucks for writing abstract math.

this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
537 points (87.7% liked)

Asklemmy

43803 readers
752 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS