The calculator

The first calculator was invented in 1966 at Texas Instruments (http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/timeline/eps/1960/docs/67-handheld_calc_invented.htm) and was able to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and pision. The calculator had eighteen keys and could display twelve numbers on the screen. While it doesn't seem like much at first, especially compared to the technology we now enjoy, there is quite a lot of code and decision making that go into the operations that a basic calculator performs.

When we want to figure out how something works, we need to break it down into smaller parts. Let's take a look at how the calculator adds numbers together:

1. First, the calculator needs power.
2. The user enters the first number.
3. The user presses an operation key (+, -, *, or /).
4. The user enters a second number.
5. The user presses the = key.
6. Then, an answer is printed to the screen.

On a basic calculator, the computer does not keep all of the numbers on the screen. The computer must store the first number that the user entered in its memory.

We will run our first calculator program inside of the terminal/command prompt, so there are other things we must consider in addition to how the numbers will be stored. For example:

• How will we prompt the user to get the information that we need?
• What happens if the user enters a text string instead of integers or floats?
• What happens if the user enters numbers as a string instead of as integers or floats?

These are just some of the logical questions that need to be considered as we plan how to write our own calculator program. Can you think of any other problems that need to be solved?