RPN83P: RPN calculator for TI-83+ TI-84+ inspired by HP-42S

[bxparks]

(11-22-2023 05:18 PM)TomC Wrote:  Firstly - GreatWork!!! - to have our favorite machines work on readily available hardware.

My comments/wishes:
1. Complex Number Support
2. Keystroke programming (like 42)
3. More data memory (I regularly use 100 complex registers on my DM42).
4. Support for the 84'C' type machines (I've come to enjoy these backlit displays).

Thanks! (1) and (2) and many others are already in the future enhancements section in the USER_GUIDE.md. So many features, so little time.

Part of the problem is that I'm finding Z80 assembly language programming to be about 1/3 as productive as C, and maybe 1/6 as productive as C++. Maybe that just means that I'm not a good assembly language programmer. It's a grind. Especially as the RPN83P application has become bigger, it takes more and more time to add new features, to make sure that I haven't broken everything else that has already been programmed. I am not aware of any way to do automated unit testing with assembly language programming. So all my testing has to be done manually. Very time consuming.

I'm curious about your (3). I can give you 100 real registers easily right now. I chose to limit to 25, because that's the HP-42S default, and because I thought, "who would need more than 25 registers?" :-) Why do you need 100 *complex* registers? Some sort of EE/signal processing work?

With regards to (4), are you talking about the 84+CSE, or the 84+CE? (The people who created the names for these calculators must have been on drugs. It is completely confusing.) The 84+CSE is a technological dead-end for TI calculators. I won't port to that. The 84+CE... maybe. Those use a different CPU (eZ80), a different screen, different development tools (probably). I hear there's a C compiler for it, no idea how good it is. But get this, the sizeof(int) on that compiler is 3 (not 2 or 4) because the eZ80 processor has 24-bit registers. What an adventure that would be.

[Addendum: Another higher-level question would be: Why would you want to use the RPN83P app on a budget TI calculator instead of the DM42? The DM42 uses Free42 which is an awesome piece of software. The DM42 hardware, from all I hear, is also awesome. Seems like RPN83P would be a poor substitute.]