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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="B_programming_language" class="mw-redirect" title="B programming language">B programming language</a> or <a href="C_programming_language" class="mw-redirect" title="C programming language">C programming language</a>.</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">

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</style><table class="infobox vevent"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above summary">bc</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="Programmer" title="Programmer">Developer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Robert_Morris_(cryptographer)" title="Robert Morris (cryptographer)">Robert Morris</a> and <a href="Lorinda_Cherry" title="Lorinda Cherry">Lorinda Cherry</a> of <a href="Bell_Labs" title="Bell Labs">Bell Labs</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Initial release</th><td class="infobox-data">1975, 49–50 years ago</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="Operating_system" title="Operating system">Operating system</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Unix" title="Unix">Unix</a>, <a href="Unix-like" title="Unix-like">Unix-like</a>, <a href="Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs" title="Plan 9 from Bell Labs">Plan 9</a>, <a href="FreeDOS" title="FreeDOS">FreeDOS</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="Computing_platform" title="Computing platform">Platform</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Cross-platform" class="mw-redirect" title="Cross-platform">Cross-platform</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="Software_categories#Categorization_approaches" title="Software categories">Type</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Command_(computing)" title="Command (computing)">Command</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><b>bc</b>, for <i>basic calculator</i>, is an <a href="Arbitrary-precision_arithmetic" title="Arbitrary-precision arithmetic">arbitrary-precision</a> <a href="Math" class="mw-redirect" title="Math">mathematical</a> <a href="Calculator" title="Calculator">calculator</a> <a href="Computer_program" title="Computer program">program</a> with an input language similar to <a href="C_(programming_language)" title="C (programming language)">C</a>. It supports both interactive, <a href="Command-line_interface" title="Command-line interface">command-line</a> <a href="User-interface" class="mw-redirect" title="User-interface">user-interface</a> and script processing.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2></div>

<p>A typical interactive usage is typing the command <code>bc</code> on a <a href="Unix" title="Unix">Unix</a> <a href="Command-line_interface#Command_prompt" title="Command-line interface">command prompt</a> and entering a mathematical expression, such as <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">(1 + 3) * 2</code>, whereupon <samp style="padding-left:0.4em; padding-right:0.4em; color:var( --color-subtle, #666666);">8</samp> will be output. While bc can work with arbitrary precision, it actually defaults to zero digits after the decimal point, so the expression <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">2/3</code> yields <samp style="padding-left:0.4em; padding-right:0.4em; color:var( --color-subtle, #666666);">0</samp> (results are truncated, not rounded). This can surprise new bc users unaware of this fact. The <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">-l</code> option to bc sets the default <i>scale</i> (digits after the decimal point) to 20 and adds several additional mathematical functions to the language.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>bc first appeared in <a href="Version_6_Unix" title="Version 6 Unix">Version 6 Unix</a> in 1975. It was written by <a href="Lorinda_Cherry" title="Lorinda Cherry">Lorinda Cherry</a> of <a href="Bell_Labs" title="Bell Labs">Bell Labs</a> as a front end to <a href="Dc_(computer_program)" title="Dc (computer program)">dc</a>, an arbitrary-precision calculator written by <a href="Robert_Morris_(cryptographer)" title="Robert Morris (cryptographer)">Robert Morris</a> and Cherry. dc performed arbitrary-precision computations specified in <a href="Reverse_Polish_notation" title="Reverse Polish notation">reverse Polish notation</a>. bc provided a conventional programming-language interface to the same capability via a simple <a href="Compiler" title="Compiler">compiler</a> (a single <a href="Yacc" title="Yacc">yacc</a> source file comprising a few hundred lines of code), which converted a <a href="C_(programming_language)" title="C (programming language)">C</a>-like syntax into dc notation and <a href="Pipeline_(Unix)" title="Pipeline (Unix)">piped</a> the results through dc.

</p><p>In 1991, <a href="POSIX" title="POSIX">POSIX</a> rigorously defined and standardized bc. Four implementations of this standard survive today: The first is the traditional Unix implementation, a front-end to dc, which survives in Unix and <a href="Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs" title="Plan 9 from Bell Labs">Plan 9</a> systems. The second is the <a href="Free_software" title="Free software">free software</a> <a href="GNU" title="GNU">GNU</a> bc, first released in 1991 by Philip A. Nelson. The GNU implementation has numerous extensions beyond the POSIX standard and is no longer a front-end to dc (it is a <a href="Bytecode_interpreter" class="mw-redirect" title="Bytecode interpreter">bytecode interpreter</a>). The third is a re-implementation by <a href="OpenBSD" title="OpenBSD">OpenBSD</a> in 2003. The fourth is an independent implementation by Gavin Howard<sup id="cite_ref-:1_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that is included in <a href="Android_(operating_system)" title="Android (operating system)">Android (operating system)</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-:2_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:3_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="FreeBSD" title="FreeBSD">FreeBSD</a> as of 13.3-RELEASE,<sup id="cite_ref-:4_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:5_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:6_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:6-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="MacOS" title="MacOS">macOS</a> as of 13.0.<sup id="cite_ref-:7_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:7-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:8_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:8-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:9_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:9-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Implementations">Implementations</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="POSIX_bc">POSIX bc</h3></div>

<p>The POSIX standardized bc language is traditionally written as a program in the <a href="Dc_(computer_program)" title="Dc (computer program)">dc</a> programming language to provide a higher level of access to the features of the dc language without the complexities of dc's terse syntax.

</p><p>In this form, the bc language contains single-letter <a href="Variable_(programming)" class="mw-redirect" title="Variable (programming)">variable</a>, <a href="Array_data_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Array data structure">array</a> and <a href="Function_(programming)" class="mw-redirect" title="Function (programming)">function</a> names and most standard arithmetic operators, as well as the familiar <a href="Control-flow" class="mw-redirect" title="Control-flow">control-flow</a> constructs (<code><b>if(</b>cond<b>)</b>...</code>, <code><b>while(</b>cond<b>)</b>...</code> and <code><b>for(</b>init<b>;</b>cond<b>;</b>inc<b>)</b>...</code>) from C. Unlike C, an <b><code>if</code></b> clause may not be followed by an <b><code>else</code></b>.

</p><p>Functions are defined using a <b><code>define</code></b> keyword, and values are returned from them using a <b><code>return</code></b> followed by the return value in parentheses. The <b><code>auto</code></b> keyword (optional in C) is used to declare a variable as local to a function.

</p><p>All numbers and variable contents are <a href="Arbitrary-precision" class="mw-redirect" title="Arbitrary-precision">arbitrary-precision</a> numbers whose precision (in decimal places) is determined by the global <b><code>scale</code></b> variable.

</p><p>The <a href="Radix" title="Radix">numeric base</a> of input (in interactive mode), output and program constants may be specified by setting the reserved <b><code>ibase</code></b> (input base) and <b><code>obase</code></b> (output base) variables.

</p><p>Output is generated by deliberately not assigning the result of a calculation to a variable.

</p><p>Comments may be added to bc code by use of the C <b><code>/*</code></b> and <b><code>*/</code></b> (start and end comment) symbols.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Mathematical_operators">Mathematical operators</h4></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Exactly_as_C">Exactly as C</h5></div>

<p>The following POSIX bc <a href="Operator_(programming)" class="mw-redirect" title="Operator (programming)">operators</a> behave exactly like their C counterparts:

</p>

<pre>+ - * /

+= -= *= /=

++ -- < >

==  != <= >=

( ) [ ] { }

</pre>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Similar_to_C">Similar to C</h5></div>

<p>The <a href="Modulus_operator" class="mw-redirect" title="Modulus operator">modulus</a> operators, <code>%</code> and <code>%=</code> behave exactly like their C counterparts only when the global <b><code>scale</code></b> variable is set to 0, i.e. all calculations are integer-only. Otherwise the computation is done with the appropriate scale. <code>a%b</code> is defined as <code>a-(a/b)*b</code>. Examples:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-console mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">$ </span>bc

<span class="go">This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.</span>

<span class="go">For details type `warranty'.</span>

<span class="hll"><span class="go">scale=0; 5%3</span>

</span><span class="go">2</span>

<span class="hll"><span class="go">scale=1; 5%3</span>

</span><span class="go">.2</span>

<span class="hll"><span class="go">scale=20; 5%3</span>

</span><span class="go">.00000000000000000002</span>

</pre></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Conflicting_with_C">Conflicting with C</h5></div>

<p>The operators

</p>

<pre>^ ^=

</pre>

<p>superficially resemble the C bitwise <a href="Exclusive-or" class="mw-redirect" title="Exclusive-or">exclusive-or</a> operators, but are in fact the bc integer exponentiation operators.

</p><p>Of particular note, the use of the <code>^</code> operator with negative numbers does not follow the C operator precedence. <code>-2^2</code> gives the answer of 4 under bc rather than −4.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id=""Missing"_operators_relative_to_C">"Missing" operators relative to C</h5></div>

<p>The <a href="Bitwise_operation" title="Bitwise operation">bitwise</a>, <a href="Boolean_logic" class="mw-redirect" title="Boolean logic">Boolean</a> and <a href="Conditional_(programming)" class="mw-redirect" title="Conditional (programming)">conditional</a> operators:

</p>

<pre>& | ^ && ||

&= |= ^= &&= ||=

<< >>

<<= >>=

</pre>

<p>are not available in POSIX bc.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Built-in_functions">Built-in functions</h4></div>

<p>The <b><code>sqrt()</code></b> function for calculating <a href="Square_root" title="Square root">square roots</a> is POSIX bc's only built-in mathematical function. Other functions are available in an external standard library.

</p><p>The <b><code>scale()</code></b> function for determining the precision (as with the <b><code>scale</code></b> variable) of its argument and the <b><code>length()</code></b> function for determining the number of significant decimal digits in its argument are also built-in.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Standard_library_functions">Standard library functions</h4></div>

<p>bc's standard math library (defined with the <b>-l</b> option) contains functions for calculating <a href="Sine" class="mw-redirect" title="Sine">sine</a>, <a href="Cosine" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosine">cosine</a>, <a href="Arctangent" class="mw-redirect" title="Arctangent">arctangent</a>, <a href="Natural_logarithm" title="Natural logarithm">natural logarithm</a>, the <a href="Exponential_function" title="Exponential function">exponential function</a> and the two parameter <a href="Bessel_function" title="Bessel function">Bessel function</a> <i>J</i>. Most standard mathematical functions (including the other inverse trigonometric functions) can be constructed using these. See external links for implementations of many other functions.

</p>

<caption>The bc standard library<sup id="cite_ref-:0_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</caption>

<th>bc command

</th>

<th>Function

</th>

<th>Description

</th></tr>

<tr>

</td>

</td>

<td>Takes <i>x</i>, an angle in <a href="Radian" title="Radian">radians</a>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</td>

<td><a href="Cosine" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosine">Cosine</a>

</td>

<td>Takes <i>x</i>, an angle in radians

</td></tr>

<tr>

</td>

<td><a href="Arctangent" class="mw-redirect" title="Arctangent">Arctangent</a>

</td>

<td>Returns radians

</td></tr>

<tr>

</td>

<td><a href="Natural_logarithm" title="Natural logarithm">Natural logarithm</a>

</td>

<td>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</td>

<td><a href="Exponential_function" title="Exponential function">Exponential function</a>

</td>

<td>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</td>

<td><a href="Bessel_function" title="Bessel function">Bessel function</a>

</td>

<td>Returns the order-<i>n</i> Bessel function of <i>x</i>.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>The <b>-l</b> option changes the scale to 20,<sup id="cite_ref-:0_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> so things such as modulo may work unexpectedly. For example, writing <code>bc -l</code> and then the command <code>print 3%2</code> outputs 0. But writing <code>scale=0</code> after <code>bc -l</code> and then the command <code>print 3%2</code> will output 1.

</p>

<p><a href="Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs" title="Plan 9 from Bell Labs">Plan 9</a> bc is identical to POSIX bc but for an additional <b><code>print</code></b> statement.

</p>

<p>GNU bc derives from the POSIX standard and includes many extensions. It is entirely separate from dc-based implementations of the POSIX standard and is instead written in C. Nevertheless, it is fully backwards compatible as all POSIX bc programs will run unmodified as GNU bc programs.

</p><p>GNU bc variables, arrays and function names may contain more than one character, some more operators have been included from C, and notably, an <b><code>if</code></b> clause may be followed by an <b><code>else</code></b>.

</p><p>Output is achieved either by deliberately not assigning a result of a calculation to a variable (the POSIX way) or by using the added <b><code>print</code></b> statement.

</p><p>Furthermore, a <b><code>read</code></b> statement allows the interactive input of a number into a running calculation.

</p><p>In addition to C-style comments, a <b><code>#</code></b> character will cause everything after it until the next new-line to be ignored.

</p><p>The value of the last calculation is always stored within the additional built-in <b><code>last</code></b> variable.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Extra_operators">Extra operators</h4></div>

<p>The following <a href="Logical_operator" class="mw-redirect" title="Logical operator">logical operators</a> are additional to those in POSIX bc:

</p>

<pre>&& ||  !

</pre>

<p>They are available for use in conditional statements (such as within an <b><code>if</code></b> statement). Note, however, that there are still no equivalent bitwise or assignment operations.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Functions">Functions</h4></div>

<p>All functions available in GNU bc are inherited from POSIX. No further functions are provided as standard with the GNU distribution.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Example_code">Example code</h2></div>

<p>Since the bc <code>^</code> operator only allows an integer power to its right, one of the first functions a bc user might write is a power function with a floating-point exponent. Both of the below assume the standard library has been included:

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="A_"power"_function_in_POSIX_bc">A "power" function in POSIX bc</h3></div>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-bc mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre> <span class="cm">/* A function to return the integer part of x */</span>

<span class="k">define</span> i<span class="p">(</span>x<span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>

<span class="k">auto</span> s

s <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">scale</span>

<span class="k">scale</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="m">0</span>

x <span class="o">/=</span> <span class="m">1</span> <span class="cm">/* round x down */</span>

<span class="k">scale</span> <span class="o">=</span> s

<span class="k">return</span> <span class="p">(</span>x<span class="p">)</span>

<span class="k">define</span> p<span class="p">(</span>x<span class="p">,</span>y<span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>

<span class="k">return</span> <span class="p">(</span>x <span class="o">^</span> y<span class="p">)</span>

<span class="k">return</span> <span class="p">(</span> e<span class="p">(</span> y <span class="o">*</span> l<span class="p">(</span>x<span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">)</span>

</pre></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Calculating_π_to_10000_digits">Calculating π to 10000 digits</h3></div>

<p>Calculate <a href="Pi" title="Pi">pi</a> using the builtin <a href="Inverse_trigonometric_functions" title="Inverse trigonometric functions">arctangent</a> function, <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886049734">

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</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-console mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">$ </span>bc<span class="w"> </span>-lq

<span class="go">scale=10000</span>

<span class="hll"><span class="go">4*a(1) # The atan of 1 is 45 degrees, which is pi/4 in radians.</span>

</span><span class="gp"> # </span>This<span class="w"> </span>may<span class="w"> </span>take<span class="w"> </span>several<span class="w"> </span>minutes<span class="w"> </span>to<span class="w"> </span>calculate.

</pre></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="A_translated_C_function">A translated C function</h3></div>

<p>Because the syntax of bc is similar to that of <a href="C_(programming_language)" title="C (programming language)">C</a>, published numerical functions written in C can often be translated into bc quite easily, which immediately provides the arbitrary precision of bc. For example, in the <a href="Journal_of_Statistical_Software" title="Journal of Statistical Software">Journal of Statistical Software</a> (July 2004, Volume 11, Issue 5), <a href="George_Marsaglia" title="George Marsaglia">George Marsaglia</a> published the following C code for the <a href="Normal_distribution" title="Normal distribution">cumulative normal distribution</a>:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-c mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="kt">double</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">Phi</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kt">double</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">)</span>

<span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">long</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">double</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">b</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">q</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">;</span>

<span class="w"> </span><span class="k">while</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">!=</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span>

<span class="w"> </span><span class="k">return</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="mf">.5</span><span class="o">+</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">exp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mf">-.5</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">q</span><span class="mf">-.91893853320467274178L</span><span class="p">);</span>

</pre></div>

<p>With some necessary changes to accommodate bc's different syntax, and noting that the constant "0.9189..." is actually log(2*PI)/2, this can be translated to the following GNU bc code:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-bc mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="k">define</span> phi<span class="p">(</span>x<span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>

<span class="k">auto</span> s<span class="p">,</span>t<span class="p">,</span>b<span class="p">,</span>q<span class="p">,</span>i<span class="p">,</span>const

s<span class="o">=</span>x<span class="p">;</span> t<span class="o">=</span><span class="m">0</span><span class="p">;</span> b<span class="o">=</span>x<span class="p">;</span> q<span class="o">=</span>x<span class="o">*</span>x<span class="p">;</span> i<span class="o">=</span><span class="m">1</span>

<span class="k">while</span><span class="p">(</span>s<span class="o">!=</span>t<span class="p">)</span>

s<span class="o">=</span><span class="p">(</span>t<span class="o">=</span>s<span class="p">)</span><span class="o">+</span><span class="p">(</span>b<span class="o">*=</span>q<span class="o">/</span><span class="p">(</span>i<span class="o">+=</span><span class="m">2</span><span class="p">))</span>

const<span class="o">=</span><span class="m">0.5</span><span class="o">*</span>l<span class="p">(</span><span class="m">8</span><span class="o">*</span>a<span class="p">(</span><span class="m">1</span><span class="p">))</span> # <span class="m">0.91893</span>...

<span class="k">return</span> <span class="m">.5</span><span class="o">+</span>s<span class="o">*</span>e<span class="p">(</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="m">.5</span><span class="o">*</span>q<span class="o">-</span>const<span class="p">)</span>

</pre></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Using_bc_in_shell_scripts">Using bc in shell scripts</h2></div>

<p>bc can be used non-interactively, with input through a <a href="Pipeline_(Unix)" title="Pipeline (Unix)">pipe</a>. This is useful inside <a href="Shell_script" title="Shell script">shell scripts</a>. For example:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-console mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">$ </span><span class="nv">result</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="k">$(</span><span class="nb">echo</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"scale=2; 5 * 7 /3;"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">|</span><span class="w"> </span>bc<span class="k">)</span>

<span class="gp">$ </span><span class="nb">echo</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">$result</span>

</pre></div>

<p>In contrast, note that the <a href="Bash_(Unix_shell)" title="Bash (Unix shell)">bash shell</a> only performs integer arithmetic, e.g.:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-console mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">$ </span><span class="nv">result</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="k">$((</span><span class="m">5</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">*</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">7</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">/</span><span class="m">3</span><span class="k">))</span>

<span class="gp">$ </span><span class="nb">echo</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">$result</span>

</pre></div>

<p>One can also use the <a href="Here_document" title="Here document">here-string</a> idiom (in bash, ksh, csh):

</p>

</pre></div>

<ul><li><a href="Dc_(computer_program)" title="Dc (computer program)">dc programming language</a></li>

<li><a href="C_(programming_language)" title="C (programming language)">C programming language</a></li>

<li><a href="Hoc_(programming_language)" title="Hoc (programming language)">hoc programming language</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

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</style><div class="reflist">

<li id="cite_note-:1-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:1_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://git.gavinhoward.com/gavin/bc">An implementation of Unix dc and POSIX bc with GNU and BSD extensions</a></span>

</li>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/shell_and_utilities/README.md">"Android's shell and utilities"</a>. <i>android.googlesource.com</i>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:3-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:3_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://android.googlesource.com/platform/external/bc/">"Platform/External/Bc - Git at Google"</a>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:4-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:4_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/freebsd-13-3-whats-new-and-how-did-we-get-here.92596/">"FreeBSD 13.3: What's new, and how did we get here?"</a>. <i>The FreeBSD Forums</i>. March 5, 2024.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:5-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:5_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bc&apropos=0&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+14.1-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html">"bc(1)"</a>. <i>man.freebsd.org</i>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:6-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:6_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/tree/contrib/bc">"bc « contrib - src - FreeBSD source tree"</a>. <i>cgit.freebsd.org</i>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:7-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:7_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://opensource.apple.com/releases/">"Apple Open Source"</a>. <i>opensource.apple.com</i>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:8-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:8_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/bc/tree/main/bc">"bc/bc at main · apple-oss-distributions/bc"</a>. <i>GitHub</i>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:9-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:9_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://gavinhoward.com/2023/02/my-code-conquered-another-os/">"My Code Conquered Another OS! | Gavin D. Howard"</a>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-:0-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="neverexpand"><code><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/utilities/bc.html">bc</a></code></span>: arbitrary-precision arithmetic language – Shell and Utilities Reference, <a href="Single_Unix_Specification" class="mw-redirect" title="Single Unix Specification">The Single UNIX Specification</a>, Version 5 from <a href="The_Open_Group" title="The Open Group">The Open Group</a></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

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<ul><li><span class="neverexpand"><code><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/utilities/bc.html">bc</a></code></span>: arbitrary-precision arithmetic language – Shell and Utilities Reference, <a href="Single_Unix_Specification" class="mw-redirect" title="Single Unix Specification">The Single UNIX Specification</a>, Version 5 from <a href="The_Open_Group" title="The Open Group">The Open Group</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/html_mono/bc.html">GNU bc manual page</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090501204511/http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/jaunty/en/man1/bc.1posix.html">POSIX bc manual page</a></li>

<li><span class="neverexpand"><code><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://9p.io/magic/man2html/1/bc">bc(1)</a></code></span> – <a href="Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs" title="Plan 9 from Bell Labs">Plan 9</a> Programmer's Manual, Volume 1</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/vol2/bc">7th Edition Unix bc manual page</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20061008193920/http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/vol2/bc">Archived</a> 2006-10-08 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://compilers.iecc.com/comparch/article/95-09-015">A comp.compilers article on the design and implementation of C-bc</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/source/s1/bc.y">6th Edition Unix bc source code</a>, the first release of bc, from May 1975, compiling bc syntax into dc syntax</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bc/">GNU bc source code</a></li></ul>

</div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">The Wikibook <i><a href="https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_Unix" class="extiw external" title="wikibooks:Guide to Unix">Guide to Unix</a></i> has a page on the topic of: <i><b><a href="https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_Unix/Commands" class="extiw external" title="wikibooks:Guide to Unix/Commands">Commands</a></b></i></div></div>

</div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/152923.152925">Dittmer, I. 1993. Error in Unix commands dc and bc for multiple-precision-arithmetic. SIGNUM Newsl. 28, 2 (Apr. 1993), 8–11.</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.phodd.net/gnu-bc/">Collection of useful GNU bc functions</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/">GNU bc</a> (and an <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/bc/">alpha version</a>) from the Free Software Foundation</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160222234922/http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/bc.htm">bc for Windows</a> from <a href="GnuWin32" title="GnuWin32">GnuWin32</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/gavinhoward/bc">Gavin Howard bc</a> - another open source implementation of bc by Gavin Howard with GNU and BSD extensions</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084708/http://x-bc.sourceforge.net/">X-bc</a> - A Graphical User Interface to bc

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092132/http://x-bc.sourceforge.net/extensions_bc.html">extensions.bc</a> - contains functions of trigonometry, exponential functions, functions of number theory and some mathematical constants</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081309/http://x-bc.sourceforge.net/scientific_constants_bc.html">scientific_constants.bc</a> - contains particle masses, basic constants, such as speed of light in the vacuum and the gravitational constant</li></ul></li></ul>

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</style><div id="Unix_command-line_interface_programs_and_shell_builtins541" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="Unix" title="Unix">Unix</a> <a href="Command-line_interface" title="Command-line interface">command-line interface</a> programs and <a href="Shell_builtin" title="Shell builtin">shell builtins</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">File system</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Chattr" title="Chattr">chattr</a></li>

<li><a href="Chmod" title="Chmod">chmod</a></li>

<li><a href="Chown" title="Chown">chown</a></li>

<li><a href="Chgrp" title="Chgrp">chgrp</a></li>

<li><a href="Cksum" title="Cksum">cksum</a></li>

<li><a href="Fuser_(Unix)" title="Fuser (Unix)">fuser</a></li>

<li><a href="Mkdir" title="Mkdir">mkdir</a></li>

<li><a href="Rmdir" title="Rmdir">rmdir</a></li>

<li><a href="Split_(Unix)" title="Split (Unix)">split</a></li>

<li><a href="Touch_(command)" title="Touch (command)">touch</a></li>

<li><a href="Umask" title="Umask">umask</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Processes</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Cron" title="Cron">crontab</a></li>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">User environment</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Logname" title="Logname">logname</a></li>

<li><a href="Uname" title="Uname">uname</a></li>

<li><a href="Write_(Unix)" title="Write (Unix)">write</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Text processing</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Basename" title="Basename">basename</a></li>

<li><a href="Csplit" title="Csplit">csplit</a></li>

<li><a href="Dirname" title="Dirname">dirname</a></li>

<li><a href="Iconv" title="Iconv">iconv</a></li>

<li><a href="Paste_(Unix)" title="Paste (Unix)">paste</a></li>

<li><a href="Patch_(Unix)" title="Patch (Unix)">patch</a></li>

<li><a href="Printf_(Unix)" title="Printf (Unix)">printf</a></li>

<li><a href="Strings_(Unix)" title="Strings (Unix)">strings</a></li>

<li><a href="Troff" title="Troff">troff</a></li>

<li><a href="Xargs" title="Xargs">xargs</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="Shell_builtin" title="Shell builtin">Shell builtins</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Alias_(command)" title="Alias (command)">alias</a></li>

<li><a href="Environment_variable#unset_command" title="Environment variable">unset</a></li>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Searching</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Documentation</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="Software_development" title="Software development">Software development</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Ctags" title="Ctags">ctags</a></li>

<li><a href="Strip_(Unix)" title="Strip (Unix)">strip</a></li>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Miscellaneous</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul>

<li><a href="Sleep_(command)" title="Sleep (command)">sleep</a></li>

<li><a href="True_and_false_(commands)" title="True and false (commands)">true and false</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="2"><div>

<ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"></span></span> <b>Categories</b>

<ul><li>Standard Unix programs</li>

<li>Unix SUS2008 utilities</li></ul></li>

</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

<div class="navbox-styles"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Plan_9_command-line_interface_programs_and_shell_builtins358" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Plan_9_command-line_interface_programs_and_shell_builtins358" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs" title="Plan 9 from Bell Labs">Plan 9</a> <a href="Command-line_interface" title="Command-line interface">command-line interface</a> programs and <a href="Shell_builtin" title="Shell builtin">shell builtins</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">File system</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Chmod" title="Chmod">chmod</a></li>

<li><a href="Chgrp" title="Chgrp">chgrp</a></li>

<li><a href="Mkdir" title="Mkdir">mkdir</a></li>

<li><a href="Split_(Unix)" title="Split (Unix)">split</a></li>

<li><a href="Touch_(command)" title="Touch (command)">touch</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="Passwd" title="Passwd">passwd</a></li>

<li><a href="Basename" title="Basename">basename</a></li>

<li><a href="Spell_(Unix)" title="Spell (Unix)">spell</a></li>

<li><a href="Strings_(Unix)" title="Strings (Unix)">strings</a></li>

<li><a href="Troff" title="Troff">troff</a></li>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="Network_utility" title="Network utility">Networking</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Ipconfig" title="Ipconfig">ip/ipconfig</a></li>

<li><a href="Netstat" title="Netstat">netstat</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Searching</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Strip_(Unix)" title="Strip (Unix)">strip</a></li>

<ul>

<li><a href="Fortune_(Unix)" title="Fortune (Unix)">fortune</a></li>

<li><a href="Sleep_(command)" title="Sleep (command)">sleep</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="2"><div>

<ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"></span></span> Category</li></ul>

</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-21" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Bc_(programming_language)&oldid=1301832916">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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