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Concept
Programmable calculator
Summary
Programmable calculators are calculators that can automatically carry out a sequence of operations under control of a stored program. Most are Turing complete, and, as such, are theoretically general-purpose computers. However, their user interfaces and programming environments are specifically tailored to make performing small-scale numerical computations convenient, rather than general-purpose use.
The first programmable calculators such as the IBM CPC used punched cards or other media for program storage. Hand-held electronic calculators store programs on magnetic strips, removable read-only memory cartridges, flash memory, or in battery-backed read/write memory.
Since the early 1990s, most of these flexible handheld units belong to the class of graphing calculators. Before the mass-manufacture of inexpensive dot-matrix LCDs, however, programmable calculators usually featured a one-line numeric or alphanumeric display. The Big Four manufacturers of programmable calculators are Casio, Hewlett-Packard, Sharp, and Texas Instruments. All of the above have also made pocket computers in the past, especially Casio and Sharp.
Many calculators of this type are monochrome LCD, some are four-color (red or orange, green, blue, and black), or, in the case of some machines at the top of the line as of January 2022 color similar to monitors displaying 16 or 32-bit graphics. As they are used for graphing functions, the screens of these machines are pixel-addressable. Some have a touch screen, buzzers or other sound producers, internal clocks, modems or other connectivity devices including IrDA transceivers, several types of ports for peripherals like printers, and ports for memory cards of a number of types.
The wide availability and low cost of personal computers including laptop computers, smartphones and tablets gradually made programmable calculators obsolete for most applications. However, they remain popular in secondary education. Specific calculator models are often required for use in many mathematics courses.
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Ontological neighbourhood
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Calculator input methods
There are various ways in which calculators interpret keystrokes. These can be categorized into two main types: On a single-step or immediate-execution calculator, the user presses a key for each operation, calculating all the intermediate results, before the final value is shown. On an expression or formula calculator, one types in an expression and then presses a key, such as "=" or "Enter", to evaluate the expression. There are various systems for typing in an expression, as described below.
Graphing calculator
A graphing calculator (also graphics calculator or graphic display calculator) is a handheld computer that is capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculators are programmable calculators, allowing the user to create customized programs, typically for scientific, engineering or education applications. They have large screens that display several lines of text and calculations. An early graphing calculator was designed in 1921 by electrical engineer Edith Clarke.
TI-83 series
The TI-83 series is a series of graphing calculators manufactured by Texas Instruments. The original TI-83 is itself an upgraded version of the TI-82. Released in 1996, it was one of the most popular graphing calculators for students. In addition to the functions present on normal scientific calculators, the TI-83 includes many features, including function graphing, polar/parametric/sequence graphing modes, statistics, trigonometric, and algebraic functions, along with many useful applications.