bc Command Examples

An arbitrary precision calculator language. See also: dc, qalc. More information: https://manned.org/bc.

• Start an interactive session:

bc

• Start an [i]nteractive session with the standard math [l]ibrary enabled:

bc --interactive --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

• Execute an inline factorial script:

echo "define factorial(n) { if (n <= 1) return 1; return n*factorial(n-1); }; factorial({{10}})" | bc