postfix notation
Sign in to saveAlso known as reverse Polish notation, RPN
mathematical notation in which every operator follows all of its operands
Wikidata facts
- Image
- 'Enter' key of RPN mathematic notation (a calculation system) on HP-32SII Hewlett-Packard pocket calculator.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- used by
- Hewlett-Packard 9100A
- discoverer or inventor
- Charles Leonard Hamblin
- time of discovery or invention
- 1924-00-00
- opposite of
- prefix notation
- Stack Exchange tag
- stackoverflow.com/tags/postfix-notation
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
- Commons category
- Reverse Polish notation
- described at URL
- www.hpmuseum.org/rpn.htm
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Video: Keys pressed for calculating eight times six on a HP-32SII (employing RPN) from 1991 Reverse Polish notation (RPN), also known as reverse Łukasiewicz notation, Polish postfix notation or simply postfix notation, is a mathematical notation in which operators follow their operands, in contrast to the more common infix notation (in which operators are placed between operands), as well as prefix notation (in which operators precede their operands). The notation does not need any parentheses as long as each operator has a fixed number of operands.
The term postfix notation describes the general scheme in mathematics and computer sciences, whereas the term reverse Polish notation typically refers specifically to the method used to enter calculations into hardware or software calculators, which often have additional side effects and implications depending on the actual implementation involving a stack. The description "Polish" refers to the nationality of logician Jan Łukasiewicz, who invented Polish notation in 1924.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “postfix notation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.