Linux bc Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn about the powerful bc command-line calculator tool in Linux. The bc command allows you to perform basic arithmetic operations, as well as more advanced calculations and functions. You will start by exploring the basics of the bc command, including how to check if it is installed on your system and how to use the interactive mode. Then, you will dive deeper into the various arithmetic operations that can be performed with bc, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Finally, you will learn about the more advanced capabilities of bc, such as using functions and handling complex calculations. This lab provides practical examples to help you master the bc command and enhance your Linux command-line skills.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Skills Graph

Introduction to the bc Command

In this step, we will learn about the bc command, which is a powerful command-line calculator tool in Linux. The bc command allows you to perform basic arithmetic operations, as well as more advanced calculations and functions.

First, let's check if the bc command is installed on your system. Run the following command:

which bc

Example output:

/usr/bin/bc

If the output shows the path to the bc command, it means bc is installed. If not, you can install it using the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y bc

Now, let's start using the bc command. To enter the bc interactive mode, simply run the bc command:

bc

Example output:

bc 1.07.1
Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012-2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
For installation instructions, please see the file INSTALL.
>

You are now in the bc interactive mode, where you can start performing calculations. Let's try some basic arithmetic operations:

2 + 3

Example output:

5

10 - 4

Example output:

6

5 * 6

Example output:

30

20 / 4

Example output:

5

To exit the bc interactive mode, simply type quit and press Enter.

Basic Arithmetic Operations with bc

In this step, we will explore the basic arithmetic operations that can be performed using the bc command.

First, let's enter the bc interactive mode:

bc

Now, let's try some basic arithmetic operations:

10 + 5

Example output:

15

20 - 8

Example output:

12

4 * 6

Example output:

24

18 / 3

Example output:

6

You can also use parentheses to perform more complex calculations:

(10 + 5) * 3

Example output:

45

To exit the bc interactive mode, simply type quit and press Enter.

Advanced Calculations and Functions in bc

In this step, we will explore some of the advanced calculations and functions available in the bc command.

First, let's enter the bc interactive mode:

bc

One of the advanced features of bc is the ability to use variables. Let's try an example:

x=5
y=10
z=x+y
print z

Example output:

15

bc also supports a wide range of mathematical functions, such as trigonometric functions, logarithmic functions, and more. Let's try some examples:

scale=2
sqrt(16)

Example output:

4.00

sin(30)

Example output:

0.50

log(100)

Example output:

2.00

You can also use the scale command to control the number of decimal places displayed in the output.

scale=4
3 / 2

Example output:

1.5000

To exit the bc interactive mode, simply type quit and press Enter.

Summary

In this lab, we learned about the powerful bc command-line calculator tool in Linux. We started by introducing the bc command, checking if it's installed, and entering the interactive mode. We then explored basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as more advanced calculations using parentheses. Finally, we delved into the advanced capabilities of bc, including the use of functions and variables for complex mathematical operations.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet