The HP-16C Computer Scientist is a programmable

pocket calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-siz ...

that was produced by

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

between 1982 and 1989. It was specifically designed for use by

computer programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a progr ...

s, to assist in

debugging In engineering, debugging is the process of finding the Root cause analysis, root cause, workarounds, and possible fixes for bug (engineering), bugs. For software, debugging tactics can involve interactive debugging, control flow analysis, Logf ...

. It is a member of the

HP Voyager series The Hewlett-Packard Voyager series of calculators were introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1981. All members of this series are Programmable calculator, programmable, use Reverse Polish Notation, and feature HP Continuous memory, continuous memor ...

programmable calculator Programmable calculators are calculators that can automatically carry out a sequence of operations under the control of a stored computer programming, program. Most are Turing complete, and, as such, are theoretically general-purpose computers. ...

s. It was the only programmer's calculator ever produced by HP, though many later HP calculators have incorporated most of the 16C's functions.

Features

The 16C can display integers in

hexadecimal Hexadecimal (also known as base-16 or simply hex) is a Numeral system#Positional systems in detail, positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of sixteen. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using ten symbo ...

, decimal,

octal Octal (base 8) is a numeral system with eight as the base. In the decimal system, each place is a power of ten. For example: : \mathbf_ = \mathbf \times 10^1 + \mathbf \times 10^0 In the octal system, each place is a power of eight. For ex ...

and

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two values (0 and 1) for each digit * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical op ...

, and convert numbers from one number base to another. It also deals with floating-point decimal numbers. To accommodate long integers, the display can be 'windowed' by shifting it left and right. For consistency with the computer the programmer is working with, the

word size In computing, a word is any processor design's natural unit of data. A word is a fixed-sized datum handled as a unit by the instruction set or the hardware of the processor. The number of bits or digits in a word (the ''word size'', ''word wid ...

can be set to different values from 1 to 64 bits. Binary-arithmetic operations can be performed as unsigned,

ones' complement The ones' complement of a binary number is the value obtained by inverting (flipping) all the bits in the Binary number, binary representation of the number. The name "ones' complement" refers to the fact that such an inverted value, if added t ...

, or

two's complement Two's complement is the most common method of representing signed (positive, negative, and zero) integers on computers, and more generally, fixed point binary values. Two's complement uses the binary digit with the ''greatest'' value as the ''s ...

operations. This allows the calculator to emulate the programmer's computer. A number of specialized functions are provided to assist the programmer, including left- and right- shifting, left- and right- rotating, masking, and

bitwise In computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operat ...

logical Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure of arg ...

operations. Apart from programmer functions, the calculator's abilities are limited to basic arithmetic (and reciprocal and

square root In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that y^2 = x; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or y \cdot y) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16 because 4 ...

), which meant that typical users would also make use of a general

scientific calculator A scientific calculator is an Electronics, electronic calculator, either desktop or handheld, designed to perform calculations using basic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, Division (mathematics), division) and advanced (Trigonometric fun ...

Floating-point number In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic on subsets of real numbers formed by a ''significand'' (a signed sequence of a fixed number of digits in some base) multiplied by an integer power of that base. Numbers of this form ...

s are only supported for base 10. However, it is still far more powerful (though also much more expensive) than contemporary competitors such as the non-programmable computer math calculator

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

CM-100https://edspi31415.blogspot.de/2017/02/retro-review-casio-cm-100-computer-math.html or the TI , LCD Programmer or Programmer II. The back of the 16C features a printed reference chart for many of its functions. The calculator uses the proprietary HP Nut processor produced in a

bulk CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type ...

process and featured continuous memory, whereby the contents of memory are preserved while the calculator is turned off. Though commonplace now, this was still notable in the early 1980s, and is the origin of the "C" in the model name.

Programming

The 16C, like all other members of the Voyager series, is itself programmable. Keystroke programming is used. Up to 203 program steps are available, and up to 16 program/step

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

s. Each step and label uses one byte, which consumes register space in 7 byte increments. Here is a sample program that computes the

factorial In mathematics, the factorial of a non-negative denoted is the Product (mathematics), product of all positive integers less than or equal The factorial also equals the product of n with the next smaller factorial: \begin n! &= n \times ...

of an integer number from 2 to 69. The program takes up 9 bytes. The codes displayed while entering the program generally correspond to the keypad row/column coordinates of the keys pressed. To run the program, enter the argument onto the stack, then press the keystrokes . The result is displayed when the program terminates.

Legacy

HP has never made another calculator specifically for programmers, but has incorporated many of the HP-16C's functions in later scientific and

graphing calculator Graphing Calculator may refer to: * Graphing calculators, calculators that are able to display and/or analyze mathematical function graphs * NuCalc, a computer software program able to perform many graphing calculator functions * Grapher, th ...

s, for example the HP-42S (1988) and its successors. Like many other vintage HP calculators, the HP-16C is now highly sought-after by collectors. In July 2023, the

HP Development Company, L.P. HP Inc. is an American multinational information technology company with its headquarters in Palo Alto, California, that develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D printing services. It is the world's sec ...

's licensees Moravia Consulting spol. s r.o. and Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. introduced the HP-15C Collector's Edition, which comes with an undocumented mode to emulate the HP-16C as well. The original firmware still had a bug where numbers whose hexadecimal representation ends in E or F are displayed incorrectly in decimal mode, which was fixed by a community effort in October 2023. Several

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

s, including official by HP, are available for desktop computers, web browsers,

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s and other calculators. There are many calculators simulating software, imitating various HP calculators. The WRPN Calculator, a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

HP-16C simulator, is one of the oldest yet active software project of the such type.

Features

Programming

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading