I always use bc -l, as it gives more digits in the reply. Also available on macs/linux and most unixes. e.g.: $echo '1/2' | bc 0 $ echo '1/2' | bc -l .50

I always use bc -l, as it gives more digits in the reply. Also available on macs/linux and most unixes. e.g.: $echo '1/2' | bc 0 $ echo '1/2' | bc -l .50000000000000000000 though honestlyI usually just type bc -l you enter into an interactive calculator similar to python.