5Oct/0910

Reverse Polish Sausage

by Mike

Image text: It looks good, but it needs more postfixins.

This comic is based on the Reverse Polish notation proposed for use in mathematics.  It's also sometimes known as postfix notation because the operators follow all of it's operands.   For example, In normal notation if you wanted to add the numbers 3, 4, and 5 you would write 3 + 4 + 5.  Using reverse polish notation it would be written as 3 4 5 +.

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Comments (10) Trackbacks (0)
  1. It can also be 3 4 + 5 +

  2. What Allan said.

    Using RPN, the example above could be calculated one of two ways:

    3 4 + 5 +

    or:

    3 4 5 + +

  3. Hah, I remember that being the reason I hated HP graph calculators.

    • It’s the main reason that i love HP calculators.
      Once you’re used to it, it really is the only way to fly.

  4. Postfixins is a pun on postfix (the plus is at the end) and fixin (ketchup, mustard, etc.).

  5. yeah, so why is the sausage out of the bun? sausage is the operator?

  6. The bun is two arguments (Left half and Right half), not one.

  7. please don’t misplace apostrophes in a website devoted to explaining xkcd.

  8. Ya I agree that once you get used to it, it is the only way to go. Saves some finger work for sure.

  9. “In normal notation if you wanted to add the numbers 3, 4, and 5 you would write 3 + 4 + 5. Using reverse polish notation it would be written as 3 4 5 +”

    Actually, it would be written as 3 4 5 ++


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