tldr/pages/common/bc.md

# bc

> An arbitrary precision calculator language.
> See also: `dc`.
> More information: <https://manned.org/man/bc.1>.

- Start an interactive session:

`bc`

- Start an interactive session with the standard math library enabled:

`bc --mathlib`

- Calculate an expression:

`echo '{{5 / 3}}' | bc`

- Execute a script:

`bc {{path/to/script.bc}}`

- Calculate an expression with the specified scale:

`echo 'scale = {{10}}; {{5 / 3}}' | bc`

- Calculate a sine/cosine/arctangent/natural logarithm/exponential function using `mathlib`:

`echo '{{s|c|a|l|e}}({{1}})' | bc --mathlib`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00			`# bc`

bc: add link 2021-03-31 11:16:18 +01:00			`> An arbitrary precision calculator language.`
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			> See also: `dc`.
			`> More information: <https://manned.org/man/bc.1>.`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`- Start an interactive session:`
Added a line about interactive usage with mathlib Usually `bc` isn't very useful if it doesn't return have floating point number where appropriate. e.g., 3/4 returns 0 when started with `-i` but for most users they would expect 0.75 to be returned so the argument `-l`does what the user would generally want. 2016-10-31 23:37:05 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`bc`
Added a line about interactive usage with mathlib Usually `bc` isn't very useful if it doesn't return have floating point number where appropriate. e.g., 3/4 returns 0 when started with `-i` but for most users they would expect 0.75 to be returned so the argument `-l`does what the user would generally want. 2016-10-31 23:37:05 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`- Start an interactive session with the standard math library enabled:`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`bc --mathlib`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`- Calculate an expression:`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`echo '{{5 / 3}}' \| bc`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`- Execute a script:`
bc: add page 2015-12-12 20:37:45 +00:00
bc, dc: refresh page (#7670) 2022-01-22 06:00:09 +00:00			`bc {{path/to/script.bc}}`

			`- Calculate an expression with the specified scale:`

			`echo 'scale = {{10}}; {{5 / 3}}' \| bc`

			- Calculate a sine/cosine/arctangent/natural logarithm/exponential function using `mathlib`:

			`echo '{{s\|c\|a\|l\|e}}({{1}})' \| bc --mathlib`