Glossary

argument

An argument is the value that is passed as input to a function. In computer science, arguments are also known as actual arguments.

For example, the numbers 8 and 2 in the example are considered arguments to the log function.

> c-c log(8, 2)
3

boolean

A boolean is a value that is either true or false. In CalcBot, true is represented with a one, and false is represented with a zero.

parameter

A parameter is a variable in a function that holds the arguments passed to it. In computer science, parameters are also known as formal arguments.

For example, the variable x in the custom function below is considered a parameter of the function.

> c-c squared(x) = x^2
squared(x) = x^2

> c-c squared(2)
4

radix

The radix, also known as its base, indicates the amount of unique digits used to express a number. The most commonly used radix is 10, also known as the decimal system, since it uses 10 digits, from 0 to 9.

Other commonly used radixes include:

Binary: radix 2
Octal: radix 8
Hexadecimal: radix 16

CalcBot supports radix inputs from base 2 to 64. See the calculate reference to see how to use them.

symbol

A symbol is essentially a fancy name for variable. Symbol names in CalcBot can only consist of letters and underscores. The word is occasionally used in place of the other and vice versa.

truthiness

Truthiness refers to whether or not a value should be considered true or false. In CalcBot, all values are automatically considered true, except for zero (and any vector whose components are zero), which is considered false.

Examples of truthy expressions and values include 3i, 0+1, sin(pi/2).