Hello world,

My last programming calculators were a TI58, HP15C and Sharp 1103 (?). That was a while ago, I think I got the numbers right.

Don't know anything about what is good these days. I'd like a small machine that's friendly to program so I can code a few small programs to help jog my aging brain cells, e.g.:
- prompting me to compute random things like 52 x 47,
- prompting me to compute the day of the week for Jan 3rd 1981 (doomsday alg).

In other words, not looking for something with amazing graphics, but with convenient input/output, and easy to enter code into with my old clumsy fingers.

Here are some "tier 2 features" (nice to have but not absolutely required):
- something that can run some software for kanji flash cards (Japanese ideograms)
- a regular expressions engine so I can play around testing regexps on various text files
- very last on the list but curious if it might be available on a calculator: php

I realize that the "tier 2" features might point to a different class of machine. Interested in considering both.

EDIT: by the way, I'm in no rush, so if the right calculator is not released yet but in the pipeline, that's an option and I'll be happy to wait.

I don't really care about the price, so something I would under-utilize is absolutely fine, as long as it is convenient.

Are there some models that come to mind?
Looking forward to insight from the pros.


Thank you all very much in advance.
Wishing you a beautiful day,

You won't get PHP on the calculator but there are apps/programs, or perhaps something similar for the Kanji flash cards and for editing text files.

The TI-84+SE is incredibly capable and well documented. I'm not really a pro so I recommend waiting for other opinions.

Since you're in no rush, good sales usually happen around the back to school months of June & August. There's also a color version of the TI-84+SE being released this summer.

Welcome to Cemetech, regex; great to have you with us! The TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus-family calculators are programmable in TI-BASIC, which is beginner-friendly but a bit slow, and z80 ASM, which is fast but complex to program. For some of your Tier 2 features, especially if you want a higher-level language like C, a calculator like the Casio Prizm might be better. I'm not a huge TI-Nspire fan, but it does have good Lua support if that's more your cup of tea (although the Prizm hsa fledgling Lua support as well).

If you want do a lot on the technical side, the Nspire can run Linux, so it can probably do all of those things. the downside to the Nspire is the keyboard, which has really small buttons which (on the clickpad at least) get in the way of typing.

If you want something simpler, you should probably go for a TI-84 or a Prizm, though I don't know much about the Prizm.

The TI-84 plus also has AXE, which is between assembly and BASIC in both difficulty and speed.

Don't forget the ever so lovely TI-89ti/92+/voy200 calculators, they are programmed in C! But the 84+ line is definitely far more loved and has a great deal available in terms of programming.

Hi comicIDIOT, hi KermMartian, hi fortytwo,

Thank you for your welcome and replies.
These are exactly the answers I was looking for. That really narrows it down, which is brilliant.

Wishing you a fun weekend,

No problem, regex; glad we could help. Feel free to stick around if you have further programming questions (calculator or otherwise)!

Even though the thread seems to have resolved itself at this point, I'd like to throw in my hat for the TI-89.

While the 83+/84+ series is indeed the most common among hobbyists, I think the 89 is the best choice for the tier 2 features you mentioned. The display is higher-resolution so displaying kanji would be easier, and it's very easy to program in C so I believe porting an existing regex engine (such as pcre) shouldn't be difficult. Any of the choices have basic programming capability to allow you to meet your primary goal, of course.

I don't think any software for your tier 2 goals exists right now, but you might find some programmers willing to assist in implementation (certainly I'd consider it, since those both seem like interesting projects). It seems there was a program supporting some amount of Japanese rendering on the 89, but the author appears to have taken it down.

Thank you for adding a candidate to the list, Tari.
And if I understand, the TI-89 branch even has a leaf with a keyboard (Voyage 200)?

The kanji story is not a big priority for me, just something that tickles me every few years when I get nostalgic of my time in Japan. What triggered the question is the system of flash cards to apply the Heisig method on kanji.koohii.com. If I can't do that on a calculator, it's really no big deal, and I would hate to waste people's time on something I might not use all that much, but thanks all the same for your offer of support.

Wishing you all a relaxing Sunday.

I think the nSpire could easily handle most of your tier 2 requests, an SRS flashcard program doesn't seem beyond it's capabilities. The 84+ and the 84+SE also have clocks which could maybe be used for something like that, the biggest issue would probably be the screen size, though. Actually, i think the TI-89 Titanium/the leaf with a keyboard v200 also had clocks. The easiest to set up a developing environment for are probably the 83/4 series, followed by the 89/92/v200, then the Casio Prizm, and finally the nSpire. They're all fun and have their own challenges. I've actually thought a flashcard program for the calculator would be really cool, since so many students carry it around with them every day.