Reverse Polish Notation

Reverse Polish Notation is a mathematical notation which more closely models the way you solve algebraic equations. It uses "Enter" to separate numbers and mathematical operators appear at the end. WRPN uses a stack to store intermediate values which eliminates the need for parentheses to group intermediate calculations.

For example, to add 2 plus 3:

Tradition notation Reverse Polish Notation
2 2
+ Enter
3 3
= +

Notice that the two numbers are separated by the Enter button and that the operator (the "+" button) comes at the end.

The elegance of this notation becomes more apparent in the following example (2 + 3) x 4:

You type Shown in display X register Y register
2 2 2 0
Enter 2.0000 2 2
3 3 3 2
+ 5.0000 5 0
4 4 4 5
x 20.0000 20 0

The Enter button is only required to separate the numbers (and push the value onto the stack)