dc Command Examples

An arbitrary precision calculator. Uses reverse polish notation (RPN). See also: bc, qalc. More information: https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/dc-1.05/html_mono/dc.html.

• Start an interactive session:

dc

• Execute a script:

dc {{path/to/script.dc}}

• Calculate an expression with the specified scale:

dc --expression='{{10}} k {{5 3 /}} p'

• Calculate 4 times 5 (4 5 *), subtract 17 (17 -), and [p]rint the output:

dc --expression='4 5 * 17 - p'

• Specify the number of decimal places to 7 (7 k), calculate 5 divided by -3 (5 _3 /) and [p]rint:

dc --expression='7 k 5 _3 / p'

• Calculate the golden ratio, phi: set number of decimal places to 100 (100 k), square root of 5 (5 v) plus 1 (1 +), divided by 2 (2 /), and [p]rint result:

dc --expression='100 k 5 v 1 + 2 / p'