history of the 4-level stack

[walter b]

(09-06-2014 06:06 PM)axd1967 Wrote:  

Quote:I think if you search the archives you will many discussions about RPN stack levels and I would say Jose Mesquita provided a good summary in his response - that it is all about compromise. Less than 4 levels is undesirable (a 2 level stack would be the absolute minimum to even qualify as a calculator) and more than 4 level stacks would make memorization of stack contents difficult for most people.

Machine searched all archives (...) for "Jose Mesquita" but found nothing, sorry. Can you provide links to the relevant article(s)?

Good things are sometimes closer than you expect. The user "jebem" is the one you are looking for (post #4).

And about the statement more than 4 level stacks would make memorization of stack contents difficult for most people (read that far more than once here): True for sure but actually nobody needs memorizing all stack contents unless doing high level stack gymnastics. You just have to know how the stack works and that you can trust your intermediate results pop up again just at the right time - that's all. I never had the ambition to memorize all stack contents - nonetheless RPN works for me as well, be it with 4 or 8 levels.

d:-)