4 ms·

Well, it’s easier to build because it has a terse syntax that requires fewer symbols, doesn’t need precedence and associativity rules, and has no ambiguous inst

Well, it’s easier to build because it has a terse syntax that requires fewer symbols, doesn’t need precedence and associativity rules, and has no ambiguous instructions. It’s easier to use for the same reasons.

tome 6y ago
> has no ambiguous instructions Really? What do you call an operator applied to an empty stack? A sequence of commands that leaves the stack non-empty? I don't see why that's any less ambiguous than mismatched parentheses.
- jeffbee 6y ago
  Why would any person or machine care that the stack wasn't empty?
  - jonsen 6y ago
    And there is actually no such thing as an empty stack on an RPN calculator. A four register stack, as is common, always holds four numbers.
- jonsen 6y ago
  > A sequence of commands that leaves the stack non-empty? That’s actually a feature. It’s even fundamental in concatenative programming languages such as FORTH and Factor.
- jonsen 6y ago
  > What do you call an operator applied to an empty stack? [Pi] for example is an operator which can push the value of Pi onto an empty stack.