Stories with Tag Calculators

• Show HN: While the world builds AI Agents, I'm just building calculators

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  Posted: 2025-02-22 08:27:56

  Verbose tl;dr

  Calcverse is a collection of simple, focused online calculators built by a solo developer as a counterpoint to the current hype around AI agents. The creator emphasizes the value of small, well-executed tools that solve specific problems efficiently. The calculators currently offered on the site cover areas like loan comparisons, unit conversions, and investment calculations, with more planned for the future. The project embraces a minimalist design and aims to provide a practical alternative to overly complex software.

  The creator of Calcverse.live, a website showcasing a diverse collection of online calculators, has humbly presented their project on Hacker News, contrasting their work with the prevailing trend of developing sophisticated AI agents. While acknowledging the current excitement and focus within the tech community on artificial intelligence and autonomous agents, the developer has chosen to dedicate their efforts to a more grounded pursuit: the creation of practical and readily accessible calculation tools. Calcverse.live appears to host a variety of calculators, potentially catering to a wide range of needs, from simple arithmetic to more specialized calculations across diverse fields. The developer implicitly suggests a certain contentment in pursuing this less glamorous, but arguably equally valuable, path of building functional tools for everyday use, even while the broader technological landscape is captivated by the allure of artificial intelligence. The presentation implies a deliberate choice to focus on providing practical utility through these calculators, offering a tangible and immediately usable resource to visitors of the site. In essence, the developer is highlighting the enduring relevance and importance of fundamental calculation tools in a world increasingly dominated by complex algorithms and intelligent systems.

  • Calculators
  • Web Development
  • Show HN
  • Personal Project
  • javascript
  • online tools
  • mathematics
  • Arithmetic
  • UI/UX
  • web application
  • Front-End Development

  Summary of Comments ( 80 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43137248

  Verbose tl;dr

  HN users generally praised the calculator's clean UI/UX and appreciated the developer's focus on a simple, well-executed project rather than chasing the AI hype. Several commenters suggested potential improvements or expansions, including adding more unit conversions, financial calculators, and even integrating with existing tools like Excel or Google Sheets. Some pointed out the existing prevalence of specialized online calculators, questioning the project's long-term viability. Others expressed interest in the technical implementation details, particularly the use of Qwik and Partytown. A few jokingly questioned the project's description as "just" calculators, recognizing the complexity and value in building a robust and user-friendly calculation tool.

  The Hacker News post titled "Show HN: While the world builds AI Agents, I'm just building calculators" sparked a small but interesting discussion.

  One commenter expressed appreciation for the simplicity and focus of the project, contrasting it with the current hype surrounding AI agents. They saw value in creating tools that serve a specific purpose well, rather than chasing the latest trend. They also pointed out the potential for calculators to become more complex and powerful, hinting at the possibility of the creator eventually incorporating some of the AI technologies they are currently eschewing.

  Another commenter focused on the business aspect, inquiring about the project's monetization strategy. This led the original poster (OP) to explain they were considering a freemium model with potential add-ons like custom themes and functions. This exchange offered a glimpse into the practical considerations of developing and sustaining a project like this.

  A third comment highlighted the importance of discoverability, suggesting that submitting the calculators to various app stores could significantly increase their reach. This practical advice offered a potential avenue for growth.

  The discussion also touched upon the technical aspects of the project. One user asked about the technology used to build the calculators, to which the OP replied that they were using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This clarified the development stack and offered insight into the project's technical foundation.

  Finally, there's a short exchange regarding the user interface. One commenter pointed out the lack of an equals sign (=) on the percentage calculator and enquired about its functionality, prompting the OP to explain it and also admit the UI confusion. This small detail highlighted the importance of user feedback in identifying and addressing usability issues.

  While the overall number of comments is relatively low, they provide a well-rounded perspective on the project, covering aspects from design and technical implementation to business strategy and discoverability. The comments generally express support for the project's focus on simplicity and utility in a landscape increasingly dominated by complex AI-driven applications.

• “A calculator app? Anyone could make that”

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  Posted: 2025-02-16 10:16:49

  Verbose tl;dr

  The post "“A calculator app? Anyone could make that”" explores the deceptive simplicity of seemingly trivial programming tasks like creating a calculator app. While basic arithmetic functionality might appear easy to implement, the author reveals the hidden complexities that arise when considering robust features like operator precedence, handling edge cases (e.g., division by zero, very large numbers), and ensuring correct rounding. Building a truly reliable and user-friendly calculator involves significantly more nuance than initially meets the eye, requiring careful planning and thorough testing to address a wide range of potential inputs and scenarios. The post highlights the importance of respecting the effort involved in even seemingly simple software development projects.

  The blog post, titled ““A calculator app? Anyone could make that”,” delves into the complexities hidden beneath the seemingly simple facade of a calculator application. The author challenges the dismissive notion that creating such an app is a trivial task, arguing that while the basic arithmetic operations might appear straightforward, numerous intricate considerations arise when aiming to develop a truly robust and user-friendly calculator.

  The post begins by acknowledging the initial simplicity of implementing basic calculations, highlighting how readily available libraries and functions can handle simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However, it quickly transitions into discussing the nuances that distinguish a rudimentary calculator from a sophisticated one. Specifically, the author emphasizes the challenges of accurately handling operator precedence, ensuring correct evaluation of complex expressions with multiple operations. This involves delving into parsing techniques and algorithms to transform the user's input string into a structured representation that can be accurately computed.

  Furthermore, the post explores the complexities of displaying and managing floating-point numbers. It explains the inherent limitations of representing decimal numbers in binary format, which can lead to rounding errors and inaccuracies. The author touches upon various strategies for mitigating these issues and ensuring the calculator provides accurate and predictable results, discussing different rounding methods and precision considerations.

  Beyond numerical computations, the post addresses the user interface and user experience aspects of calculator design. It highlights the importance of a clear and intuitive layout, incorporating features like backspace functionality, clear buttons, and potentially even support for scientific notation or more advanced mathematical functions. The author stresses that the goal is not just to perform calculations, but to provide a seamless and enjoyable experience for the user.

  Finally, the post briefly mentions the potential for extending a basic calculator app with additional functionalities like unit conversions, history tracking, or even integration with other applications. It concludes by reiterating that while the core concept of a calculator may seem elementary, developing a truly polished and feature-rich application requires significant attention to detail and a deeper understanding of various programming concepts. The seemingly simple task, therefore, becomes a journey of learning and problem-solving, highlighting the deceptive complexity lurking beneath the surface of everyday tools.

  • Software Development
  • programming
  • Mobile App Development
  • Calculators
  • App Development
  • UI/UX
  • User Interface
  • user experience
  • Simplicity
  • complexity
  • software engineering
  • coding

  Summary of Comments ( 390 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43066953

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News users generally agreed that building a seemingly simple calculator app is surprisingly complex, especially when considering edge cases, performance, and a polished user experience. Several commenters highlighted the challenges of handling floating-point precision, localization, and accessibility. Some pointed out the need to consider the target platform and its specific UI/UX conventions. One compelling comment chain discussed the different approaches to parsing and evaluating expressions, with some advocating for recursive descent parsing and others suggesting using a stack-based approach or leveraging existing libraries. The difficulty in making the app truly "great" (performant, accessible, feature-rich, etc.) was a recurring theme, emphasizing that even simple projects can have hidden depths.

  The Hacker News post "A calculator app? Anyone could make that" (linking to an article about the complexities of seemingly simple calculator apps) generated a significant discussion with 48 comments. Many of the comments revolved around the hidden complexities in building a robust and accurate calculator app, echoing and expanding upon the points made in the original article.

  Several commenters shared anecdotes about their own experiences building calculators, highlighting unexpected challenges. One user described the difficulty in handling floating-point precision and rounding errors, which can lead to subtly incorrect results if not carefully managed. Another recounted the complexities of parsing user input and dealing with different order-of-operations conventions, especially when supporting functions beyond basic arithmetic. A third commenter mentioned the challenge of implementing features like memory functions, history tracking, and unit conversions while maintaining a clean and intuitive user interface.

  The theme of "simple on the surface, complex underneath" recurred frequently. Commenters pointed out that a seemingly trivial feature like displaying a comma as a thousands separator can become complicated when dealing with different locales and number formats. Others noted the importance of edge case handling, like division by zero, overflow/underflow errors, and inputs with excessive digits.

  A particularly compelling thread explored the different approaches to building a calculator's core logic. Some commenters advocated for using a recursive descent parser to evaluate expressions, while others suggested using a stack-based approach or leveraging existing libraries. This discussion highlighted the trade-offs between performance, code complexity, and maintainability.

  Beyond the technical challenges, some comments also touched on the user experience aspects of calculator design. One user emphasized the importance of a clear and responsive UI, noting that even minor delays in calculation or display updates can be frustrating for the user. Another commenter discussed the accessibility considerations, such as providing options for larger font sizes and high contrast color schemes.

  A few commenters also drew parallels to other seemingly simple applications, like text editors and web browsers, arguing that these tools also hide a surprising amount of complexity beneath a deceptively simple interface.

  Finally, some commenters offered contrasting perspectives, arguing that building a basic calculator app is relatively straightforward, especially with modern tools and libraries. However, these comments generally acknowledged that achieving a high level of robustness, accuracy, and user-friendliness requires significant effort and attention to detail. Overall, the discussion provided a nuanced and insightful exploration of the challenges involved in building even seemingly simple software applications.

• UI is hell: four-function calculators

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  Posted: 2025-01-24 03:46:19

  Verbose tl;dr

  The post "UI is hell: four-function calculators" explores the surprising complexity and inconsistency in the seemingly simple world of four-function calculator design. It highlights how different models handle order of operations (especially chained calculations), leading to varied and sometimes unexpected results for identical input sequences. The author showcases these discrepancies through numerous examples and emphasizes the challenge of creating an intuitive and predictable user experience, even for such a basic tool. Ultimately, the piece demonstrates that seemingly minor design choices can significantly impact functionality and user understanding, revealing the subtle difficulties inherent in user interface design.

  The article "UI is hell: four-function calculators," by Michal Zalewski, delves into the surprisingly complex world of user interface design, using the seemingly simple four-function calculator as a prime example. The author argues that despite their ubiquitous nature and apparent simplicity, these pocket calculators exhibit a wide array of unpredictable behaviors and inconsistencies in their handling of basic arithmetic operations. This diversity in functionality stems from different interpretations of the order of operations, specifically regarding how the equals key (=) is handled and how chained operations are processed.

  Zalewski meticulously documents various observed behaviors across different calculator models. He highlights scenarios where calculators deviate from the standard algebraic order of operations (PEMDAS/BODMAS), instead processing operations strictly from left to right. This leads to results that might surprise users accustomed to a more mathematically rigorous interpretation. He exemplifies these inconsistencies with concrete calculations, demonstrating how entering the same sequence of numbers and operators can yield different outcomes depending on the specific calculator's internal logic.

  The author further explores the complexities introduced by the "equals" key. He notes that some calculators treat it as a simple evaluation command, while others interpret it as an implicit repetition of the last operation. This difference in interpretation becomes particularly apparent when performing chained calculations, leading to further divergence in results across different models. He meticulously categorizes the various observed behaviors of the equals key, including its interaction with operator precedence and the handling of chained operations.

  Zalewski also touches upon the historical context of calculator design, suggesting that some of these inconsistencies may be attributed to limitations of early hardware or deliberate design choices aimed at simplifying the underlying logic. He also points to the lack of a universally accepted standard for four-function calculator behavior, contributing to the observed diversity.

  Ultimately, the author utilizes the four-function calculator as a microcosm to illustrate the broader challenges of user interface design. He emphasizes how seemingly straightforward tasks can become surprisingly complex when considering the various ways users might interact with a system. The article concludes with the implication that even the simplest devices can harbor hidden depths of complexity in their user interfaces, underscoring the importance of careful and consistent design principles in creating intuitive and predictable user experiences. The seemingly trivial four-function calculator, therefore, becomes a potent symbol of the challenges inherent in crafting user interfaces that are both functional and predictable.

  • UI
  • UX
  • User Interface
  • user experience
  • design
  • Calculators
  • Four-Function Calculators
  • Usability
  • human-computer interaction
  • HCI
  • Product Design
  • Interface Design
  • ergonomics
  • Simplicity
  • complexity
  • Mental Models
  • Cognitive Science

  Summary of Comments ( 80 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42810300

  Verbose tl;dr

  HN commenters largely agreed with the author's premise that UI design is difficult, even for seemingly simple things like calculators. Several shared anecdotes of frustrating calculator experiences, particularly with cheap or poorly designed models exhibiting unexpected behavior due to button order or illogical function implementation. Some discussed the complexities of parsing expressions and the challenges of balancing simplicity with functionality. A few commenters highlighted the RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) input method as a superior alternative, albeit with a steeper learning curve. Others pointed out the differences between physical and software calculator design constraints. The most compelling comments centered around the surprising depth of complexity hidden within the design of a seemingly mundane tool and the difficulties in creating a truly intuitive user experience.

  The Hacker News post "UI is hell: four-function calculators" sparked a lively discussion with a variety of perspectives on calculator design and user interface challenges.

  Several commenters shared anecdotal experiences highlighting the frustrating inconsistencies between different calculator models. One user recounted their struggles with a calculator that required pressing the "equals" button twice to get the final result of a multi-step calculation. Another commenter pointed out the annoyance of calculators that prioritize order of operations differently, leading to unexpected results depending on the specific model used. These anecdotes underscored the article's point about the surprising complexity hidden within seemingly simple devices.

  The conversation also delved into the technical aspects of calculator design. A few commenters discussed the challenges of parsing mathematical expressions and the different approaches calculators take to handle operator precedence and parentheses. One commenter with experience in embedded systems programming explained the limitations of memory and processing power in older calculators, which might explain some of the seemingly illogical design choices. This technical perspective provided insight into the constraints faced by calculator manufacturers.

  Beyond the technical details, the discussion broadened to encompass broader UI/UX principles. One commenter argued that the inconsistencies in calculator design are a symptom of a larger problem in user interface design, where the focus is often on aesthetics rather than usability. Another commenter suggested that the lack of standardization in calculator interfaces is due to the absence of a dominant player in the market, unlike in other areas of technology where a few major companies set the de facto standards.

  Some commenters offered alternative perspectives, arguing that the article overstated the problem. One commenter pointed out that most people use calculators for simple calculations where the order of operations is not ambiguous. Another suggested that the article's focus on four-function calculators was too narrow, as scientific and graphing calculators generally offer more consistent and predictable behavior.

  Finally, a few commenters shared links to resources related to calculator design, including a website showcasing a collection of vintage calculators and a technical article explaining the inner workings of calculator processors. These additional resources added depth to the conversation and provided further avenues for exploration.

  Overall, the comments on the Hacker News post provided a multifaceted discussion about calculator design, encompassing user experience frustrations, technical explanations, and broader reflections on UI/UX principles. The comments ranged from personal anecdotes to technical insights, demonstrating the wide range of perspectives brought to the discussion by the Hacker News community.