Chalk
Dev tools
calculator
SHOW HN2022
How HN took it
10 positive, 21 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 15 critical, out of 49 comments about the project. Thread score -0.05.
Design: 1 for, 9 againstIdea: 4 for, 3 againstDocs: 1 for, 2 againstExecution: 1 for, 0 againstPerformance: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Interval arithmetic and uncertainty tracking are impressive
From 2 comments
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Soulver yet (https://soulver.app/). I have used it for years -- it looks like it has pretty similar functionality to this but (IMO) with a more…
eliah on HNBeing able to compute sin(0.1)/0.1 and reading the uncertainty at a magnitude of E-309 feels magical after doing everything in MATLAB, where the default float type only counts…
vermarish on HN
Keyboard-driven input and clean design
From 3 comments
The one thing I don't get about all those calculator applications is the existence of the keypad. Like, the users already have the keypad right in front them called keyboard (the…
CrendKing on HNInteresting but I notice that the Emacs calculator (calc.el) isn't in the comparison. It is what I use for quick calculations most of the time. There was also a Mac program…
throwaway81523 on HNGreat work! I like how well considered the design is. This calculator takes a point in the design space with text input, equation rendering, a grapher, and Big Int/Floats for…
smasher164 on HN
Objections
Article is long and does not clearly show why existing calculators are wrong
From 1 comment
To be honest I read all the materials, 85% of the blog post, and your website and you still have not told me WHY software calculators are wrong. You drone on and on and on. I'm…
zelon88 on HN
Buggy on macOS in one test
From 1 comment
So I love the concept, but the execution is kinda buggy, at least on macOS 11.6.3. I opened it and typed 1+<mash on top row of keyboard around 190 digits><return>. It calculated…
icodestuff on HN
Only a zip download, no public repo found
From 2 comments
I see that you mention it's open source, but for the life of me I cannot find the link to a repo anywhere on the site. Is it on GitHub? Am I missing something?
tedmiston on HNJust a zip on the web page
chacha21 on HN
Requests
Windows or mobile version
From 2 comments
Any chance for a windows version? Or a mobile app? The usecase for a mobile app is more plausible, even given that this is already a great idea.
algon33 on HNLooks to be Mac only, any good cross platform alternatives?
wjdp on HN
Include bc, dc or hoc in comparison
From 2 comments
Because of some reason discussed in the article I like unix's bc and also hoc when avaliable (through plan9). It would be nice if these two could also be included in the…
chazeon on HNI don't understand this. What do /bin/bc or /bin/dc lack? (It was hard to tell from the article, because most of the graphics did not load.) A good thing about these bin tools is…
ncmncm on HN
Questions
Is there a place to submit bug reports
From 1 comment
So I love the concept, but the execution is kinda buggy, at least on macOS 11.6.3. I opened it and typed 1+<mash on top row of keyboard around 190 digits><return>. It calculated…
icodestuff on HN
Alternatives named
Qalculate
From 2 comments
This is very similar to qalculate[1]. It shares a lot of the same features and design decisions [1] http://qalculate.github.io/
Phrodo_00 on HNMy favourite desktop calculator so far is Qalculate![0] for similar reasons, and I basically never have the keypad shown. It uses libqalculate, which also provides an executable…
Sophira on HN
Soulver
From 1 comment
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Soulver yet (https://soulver.app/). I have used it for years -- it looks like it has pretty similar functionality to this but (IMO) with a more…
eliah on HN
Emacs Calc
From 2 comments
Interesting but I notice that the Emacs calculator (calc.el) isn't in the comparison. It is what I use for quick calculations most of the time. There was also a Mac program…
throwaway81523 on HNLooks very cool, congratulations! Have you tried Emacs Calc? Chalk reminds me of Emacs Calc, but without the symbolic computation (and without date calculations or anonymous…
omaranto on HN
SpeedCrunch
From 2 comments
The one thing I don't get about all those calculator applications is the existence of the keypad. Like, the users already have the keypad right in front them called keyboard (the…
CrendKing on HNI definitely agree with a lot of the complaints. I truly don't understand why so many computer calculator interfaces are so awful. I've been using speedcrunch for a couple of…
reportingsjr on HN
Python REPL or IPython
From 2 comments
I still use the python repl in a terminal for my desktop calculator. Its a good choice since usually im already in the terminal anyways.
jdeaton on HNI use IPython frequently for such simple calculations.
albertzeyer on HN