X-Git-Url: https://code.delx.au/gnu-emacs/blobdiff_plain/66347da75fda602a6d0dbe8f3773bf9d056360a0..87101b33114ba14100abeea3b3c92ca16090246c:/man/calc.texi diff --git a/man/calc.texi b/man/calc.texi index ca3d0d1dbd..82282cad88 100644 --- a/man/calc.texi +++ b/man/calc.texi @@ -476,10 +476,9 @@ large and might be intimidating to the first-time user. If you plan to use Calc only as a traditional desk calculator, all you really need to read is the ``Getting Started'' chapter of this manual and possibly the first few sections of the tutorial. As you become more comfortable with -the program you can learn its additional features. In terms of efficiency, -scope and depth, Calc cannot replace a powerful tool like Mathematica. -But Calc has the advantages of convenience, portability, and availability -of the source code. And, of course, it's free! +the program you can learn its additional features. Calc does not +have the scope and depth of a fully-functional symbolic math package, +but Calc has the advantages of convenience, portability, and freedom. @node About This Manual, Notations Used in This Manual, What is Calc, Getting Started @section About This Manual @@ -1365,13 +1364,13 @@ to look around for other data types that might be worth having. Around this time, my friend Rick Koshi showed me his nifty new HP-28 calculator. It allowed the user to manipulate formulas as well as -numerical quantities, and it could also operate on matrices. I decided -that these would be good for Calc to have, too. And once things had -gone this far, I figured I might as well take a look at serious algebra -systems like Mathematica, Macsyma, and Maple for further ideas. Since -these systems did far more than I could ever hope to implement, I decided -to focus on rewrite rules and other programming features so that users -could implement what they needed for themselves. +numerical quantities, and it could also operate on matrices. I +decided that these would be good for Calc to have, too. And once +things had gone this far, I figured I might as well take a look at +serious algebra systems for further ideas. Since these systems did +far more than I could ever hope to implement, I decided to focus on +rewrite rules and other programming features so that users could +implement what they needed for themselves. Rick complained that matrices were hard to read, so I put in code to format them in a 2D style. Once these routines were in place, Big mode @@ -1412,16 +1411,14 @@ parts. Bob Weiner helped immensely with the Lucid Emacs port. Among the books used in the development of Calc were Knuth's @emph{Art of Computer Programming} (especially volume II, @emph{Seminumerical Algorithms}); @emph{Numerical Recipes} by Press, Flannery, Teukolsky, -and Vetterling; Bevington's @emph{Data Reduction and Error Analysis for -the Physical Sciences}; @emph{Concrete Mathematics} by Graham, Knuth, -and Patashnik; Steele's @emph{Common Lisp, the Language}; the @emph{CRC -Standard Math Tables} (William H. Beyer, ed.); and Abramowitz and -Stegun's venerable @emph{Handbook of Mathematical Functions}. I -consulted the user's manuals for the HP-28 and HP-48 calculators, as -well as for the programs Mathematica, SMP, Macsyma, Maple, MathCAD, -Gnuplot, and others. Also, of course, Calc could not have been written -without the excellent @emph{GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}, by Bil -Lewis and Dan LaLiberte. +and Vetterling; Bevington's @emph{Data Reduction and Error Analysis +for the Physical Sciences}; @emph{Concrete Mathematics} by Graham, +Knuth, and Patashnik; Steele's @emph{Common Lisp, the Language}; the +@emph{CRC Standard Math Tables} (William H. Beyer, ed.); and +Abramowitz and Stegun's venerable @emph{Handbook of Mathematical +Functions}. Also, of course, Calc could not have been written without +the excellent @emph{GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}, by Bil Lewis and +Dan LaLiberte. Final thanks go to Richard Stallman, without whose fine implementations of the Emacs editor, language, and environment, Calc would have been @@ -14645,8 +14642,7 @@ if the matrix justification mode so specifies. @pindex calc-mathematica-language @cindex Mathematica language The @kbd{d M} (@code{calc-mathematica-language}) command selects the -conventions of Mathematica, a powerful and popular mathematical tool -from Wolfram Research, Inc. Notable differences in Mathematica mode +conventions of Mathematica. Notable differences in Mathematica mode are that the names of built-in functions are capitalized, and function calls use square brackets instead of parentheses. Thus the Calc formula @samp{sin(2 x)} is entered and displayed @w{@samp{Sin[2 x]}} in @@ -14669,8 +14665,7 @@ Subscripts use double square brackets: @samp{a[[i]]}. @pindex calc-maple-language @cindex Maple language The @kbd{d W} (@code{calc-maple-language}) command selects the -conventions of Maple, another mathematical tool from the University -of Waterloo. +conventions of Maple. Maple's language is much like C. Underscores are allowed in symbol names; square brackets are used for subscripts; explicit @samp{*}s for @@ -17969,14 +17964,6 @@ and the depreciation is zero for all subsequent periods. The @code{ddb} function returns the amount the book value decreased in the specified period. -The Calc financial function names were borrowed mostly from Microsoft -Excel and Borland's Quattro. The @code{ratel} function corresponds to -@samp{@@CGR} in Borland's Reflex. The @code{nper} and @code{nperl} -functions correspond to @samp{@@TERM} and @samp{@@CTERM} in Quattro, -respectively. Beware that the Calc functions may take their arguments -in a different order than the corresponding functions in your favorite -spreadsheet. - @node Binary Functions, , Financial Functions, Arithmetic @section Binary Number Functions