Advanced Python Calculator

A scientific and algebraic desktop calculator built with Python and PySide6. This application features a robust, multi-process architecture to ensure a responsive user interface and separation of concerns between the UI, parsing, and mathematical computation.

Features

• Standard Calculator: Perform all basic arithmetic operations.
• Scientific Functions: Includes sin, cos, tan, log, √ (sqrt), e^x, and the constant π.
• Algebraic Solver (CAS): Solves linear equations (e.g., 2*x + 10 = 20).
• Persistent Settings:
  • Dark Mode: Toggle between light and dark themes.
  • Angle Mode: Switch between Degrees and Radians for trigonometric functions.
  • Decimal Precision: Adjust the number of decimal places for the final output.
• Responsive UI: Uses threading to run complex calculations in the background, preventing the GUI from freezing.
• History: Undo (↶) and Redo (↷) functionality.
• Clipboard: Paste (📋) values from the system clipboard.

Architecture

This project uses a decoupled, multi-process architecture. The main components are launched as separate subprocesses to isolate their work and ensure the UI remains responsive.

1. main.py (Launcher)

   • This is the entry point of the application.
   • It first validates that all required script files (UI.py, MathEngine.py, etc.) and assets (config.ini, Top_Left_icon.png) exist.
   • It then launches the UI.py script as a new process.

2. UI.py (Frontend)

   • This script contains all the PySide6 code for the graphical user interface, including the main window, settings dialog, and all button logic.
   • It manages the application's state (like undo/redo stacks).
   • When a calculation is requested (by pressing ⏎), it creates a Worker thread.
   • This Worker thread then calls MathEngine.py as a subprocess, passing the user's problem string as an argument. This prevents the UI from freezing during calculation.

3. MathEngine.py (Core / CAS)

   • This is the "brain" of the calculator. It receives the raw problem string from UI.py.
   • Tokenizer/Lexer: The translator() function parses the raw string into a list of tokens (numbers, operators, functions, variables).
   • Parser (AST): The ast() function builds an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) from the token list using classes like BinOp, Number, and Variable.
   • Solver: If the AST is identified as an equation (contains an = and a variable), the solve() function is used to find the value of the variable.
   • Evaluator: If it's a simple expression, the evaluate() method is called on the tree.
   • Delegation: For scientific functions (like sin or log), this engine launches another subprocess, calling ScientificEngine.py to get the result.

4. ScientificEngine.py (Backend)

   • This script is a simple, stateless math library.
   • It reads the config.ini file to check for the use_degrees setting.
   • It accepts a single function string (e.g., sin(30)), performs the raw math library calculation (correctly converting to radians if needed), and prints the numerical result to stdout.

Project Structure

.
├── config.ini          # Stores settings (Dark Mode, Degrees/Radians)
├── README.md           # This file
├── icons/
│   └── Top_Left_icon.png # Application icon
│
└── Python_Scripts/
    ├── main.py           # (Launcher) Validates files and starts UI.py
    ├── UI.py             # (Frontend) All GUI, threading, and settings logic
    ├── MathEngine.py     # (Core) Parser, AST builder, and Solver (CAS)
    └── ScientificEngine.py # (Backend) Performs raw scientific math

Getting Started

Prerequisites

You must have Python 3 and the PySide6 library installed.

pip install PySide6

Running the Application

To run the calculator, execute the main.py script from the root directory:

python Python_Scripts/main.py

Configuration

Settings are stored in config.ini and can be changed by clicking the ⚙️ icon in the app.

• [UI]
  • darkmode = True / False: Toggles the dark theme for the UI.
• [Scientific_Options]
  • use_degrees = True / False: Sets angle mode for sin, cos, and tan. False defaults to Radians.
• [Math_Options]
  • decimal_places = 2: Sets the number of decimal places for rounding (Note: UI feature, calculation engine prints full float).

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.