this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
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Showerthoughts

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PEMDAS is technically correct, but morally wrong (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by Chainweasel@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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If we're supposed to be able to understand math as easily as a language, we should be able to read it from left to right like a language.
Yes, I know there's lots other languages that go right to left or top to bottom, but the point is you don't have to go jumping around the page or sentence figuring out which word should be read first based on which characters it contains.
We put the first word first, then the second word second, etc.
Why can't we just write equations in the order they were meant to be solved?

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[–] gratux@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Reverse Polish Notation works almost like you describe. You put the operands first, then the operation. For example:

  • 3 + 4 --> 3 4 +
  • 3 • (5 + 2) --> 5 2 + 3 •

Probably the reason why we are not using it is because most tools today use algebraic notation, and it would be a lot of effort to switch

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I loved my HP48GX calculator with RPN.

[–] Shurimal@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

Best system for calculators IMO. Especially if you need to add many numbers together (eg doing price calculations)—just enter all the numbers to the register, double-check for errors, then add together. Way less error prone than traditional calculators.

[–] Olmai@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

It's just less readable for humans, great for programs though