Version 9.0.0, January 2023
| Please note that this is a work in progress. Not all the functionality of the previous versions has yet been ported to version 9. The function library is not stable, and new functions are being added regularly. Note that this version can no longer be built as a native Windows console application, because I'm not sure that the tools for such a build still exist. Although primariy intended for Unix-like systems, it will build for Windows under Cygwin, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (with the appropriate dependencies). |
KCalc is a command-line expression evaluator and math library based on the Lua programming language. It is implemented partly in Lua and partly in C. KCalc is designed to occupy a place between simple pocket calculator-type applications, and heavyweights like Octave and Matlab. Like the heavyweights it has full support for complex numbers, and is extensible with scripts (in this case, using the Lua language). Unlike them, it consumes less than a megayte of storage and neglibible RAM, and starts up very quickly even on low-powered platforms.
KCalc is a console (command-line) application, and should run on any platform that can provide a GNU C compiler and a prompt. However, it is primarily intended for Linux. It provides line editing and history support via the GNU Ireadline library, on platforms that support it (Cygwin and most unix-like environments do).
To use KCalc as a calculator requires no knowledge of Lua programming -- it is completely self-contained. However, to add new functionality does require at least a rudimentary understanding of Lua.
KCalc is supplied with a modest function library, providing support for basic trigonometry, equation solving, statistical, financial, and file-handling operations.
Binaries of KCalc are available for various Linux platforms in software repositories. However, these might not be up to date, and building from source is alawys recommended. In most cases cases, this ought to be no more complicated that unpacking the source bundle, and running
$ make
and then
$ sudo make install
KCalc is maintained by Kevin Boone, and distributed under the terms of the GNU Public Licence, v3.0. Essentially, this meams that you may use this software as you wish, at your own risk, provided that the original author continues to be acknowledged.
Please report bugs, etc., through GitHub.