Overview

CalcIt offers a user interface where you can conveniently write and test code and do calculations. You write pieces of code in a special, simple and easy to learn language to solve common every day problems in the field of numeric or text processing.

CalcIt purpose is to give you all the convenience and development speed to solve these problems in a programmatic way than doing the same job by hand in a tedious and boring process. 

Imagine that you do a job by hand at some point and the same or similar problem reappears. Then what you do? Doing the same tedious and boring job again and again, spending your time and patience?

With CalcIt you solve one problem once in a programmatic way, using your intelligence, and afterwards you leave your computer to carry it out. Then you store your code in CalcIt, in a hierarchical list, the palette of your previous solutions and, when the problem reappears you pick the code, do some modifications if needed and execute it to finish your work quickly and accurate at least as accurate it was in the past. This way, gradually you create a base of evolving, optimized, improved solutions of all encountered problems and benefit from it as always do from the product of a systematic, progressive work.

Without CalcIt you have to use expensive, complex and demanding tools that need a lot of preparation to make your code run correctly and have some useful effect. So the time and effort to setup and debug a small application becomes too big in the specific moment and so looks easier to take shelter in the "security" and "reliability" of the "by hand" solutions. And when you give a programmatic solution in some cases, soon it is lost and it is forgotten somewhere in your hard disk because you have no way to organize and maintain these solutions in one place and with one tool.

CalcIt user interface promotes the "interactive programming". Every small piece of code you write can be executed and find a convenient place to display its results with no delays or prerequisites. So able to execute and test every small part of your code in a progressive step by step programming you are sure that the previous foundation of your code works well before you go to the next step. So you have a feeling of confidence because your work is immediately rewarding and proceeds well. This has the effect to give you more motive to continue work effectively and with enjoyment, applying your  intelligence, qualities not present at "by hand" solutions. Subsequently the promotion of "Interactive programming" makes CalcIt Debugger to be used rarely.

So CalcIt is a tool specifically designed to create Utilities, programmatic solutions to specific needs that appear here and there in our computerized work environment, and solve them NOW and only one time, with enjoyment, using our intelligence and so avoiding any tedious and boring "by hand" job. When the same or similar problem reappears then we can find the solution gave before, do some modifications if needed and execute the code. Having the convenience of CalcIt in our side we can always say:

Is there a more intelligent way to do this specific job? If there is then let see how CalcIt can help me to make it immediately a reality.

CalcIt is the supporting and encouraging tool to help us make this question for any computing problem we face and this is exactly the idea that will continue to drive its farther development.

CalcIt is divided in three parts. The Applications, Calculations and (Code) Library.

Applications & Library

In the Applications and Library parts you write, organize and store your utilities using a number of different types of code elements:

• User Defined Functions (UDF). They extend the CalcIt language standard command set. Can be called in any other piece of CalcIt code. A UDF can call other UDFs. Are stored in the Library.
• Classes. Classes provide code reuse through the Object Oriented Programming paradigm and constitute an alternative to UDF to extent CalcIt language. Classes are only slightly more difficult to implement as regards UDF but offer more power and flexibility. Classes can be used in any other piece of CalcIt code and Classes can use other Classes to complete their implementation (aggregation) or through multiple inheritance. Classes can be used to create useful libraries written in CalcIt language and as  convenient wrappers to the imports of the various APIs found in the Windows environment. Are stored in the Library.
• Applications. An Application is a piece of CalcIt code that can be executed directly. Applications are hosted in a user interface where in the bottom resides a Code Editor to write your code and above it an Output Window to see its results when it is executed. Additionally, creating an Application, the user can generate standalone Windows executables. These executables can be Windows GUI Applications or console (command line) Applications. Are stored in the Applications part.
• Scratchpad. Scratchpad is not actually a kind of CalcIt code but a User Interface where the user at any moment can use to write down and execute some code and see its results. Looks similar to the user interface that hosts Applications. At the top is the Output window and in the bottom you write code BUT in one of the 10 Code editors that appear fixed there. Scratchpad, as its name implies, is a place to write and test, as quickly as possible, a piece of CalcIt code. Nevertheless standalone executables can be created for any of these codes as well. Is found at the Applications part.

Calculations

Scratchpad can be used in many situations as a convenient place to make simple calculations. Myself I am using it for this purpose constantly but CalcIt offers a user interface facility specifically for doing calculations: Its Calculations part. Here you have to found a calculator but this time is not what you usually expect. You will find a bit different concept of calculator and when you grasp its idea I believe you will find it much more convenient.

There you can carry out your calculations handling three close related items: Expressions, Calculations and Problems.

• Expressions. An Expression is a piece of CalcIt code that takes some values as input and produces a single value as output, usually a numeric value. Expressions are executed via Calculation items.
• Calculations. Calculations are always based in one predefined Expression item and offer the user interface (a special data entry Window) for its execution. A Calculation permits the user to enter the values needed as input by its associated Expression and also offers a place to display its result after the execution. Calculations belong always in a group (Problem) where one can take as input the value of another. Calculations are grouped by Problem.
• Problems. A Problem is a list or group of Calculations that collaborate or belong to the same category. The user creates Problems and adds to them Calculations based on any of the predefined Expressions.

Read a more detailed overview.

NOTE: The "Calculating part" is really the "old CalcIt", that is the CalcIt as it was, more or less, in its first version back in 1995.

CalcIt Language

CalcIt language is designed to be simple and easy to learn. This is the idea: To Save your time. Every one with a little experience in BASIC or PASCAL or in any structured language, can understand it in minutes.  Is very powerful and fast in numeric and alphanumeric processing with special features not found in mainstream languages. The user has no need to worry about memory allocations, data types, variable declarations, opening or closing files. The language tries to leave the user as close as possible to its solution logic taking care as much as possible the prerequisites that make his/her code able to run.

Besides all facilities specifically offered for numeric and text processing, you can access any file at binary level, simply and intuitively, and explore or patch it in ways we usually do via HEX editors but now having in our side powerful programmability.

The user can create his/her own data entry Forms and design them using a visual tool.

Finally using CalcIt you can do any kind of experimentation and not only in the field of numeric or text processing. CalcIt offers a very convenient way to access any API existing in your system which is implemented via a DLL file. Such APIs can be the Windows API, WinSock API, ORACLE API, ODBC API, etc. Classes (referred above) can be used to offer a convenient and easy programming interface even for the most complex and difficult to handle APIs.

Conclusion

All of your ideas have a very helpful assistant and environment to be written down immediately, tested and used without unnecessary distractions and waste of time. This is CalcIt promise. It succeeds in this purpose for me. I hope it succeeds also for you.