Qalculate/libqalculate(opens in a new tab)
Language: C++
Qalculate! library and CLI
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- 10/21/2026
Language: C++
Qalculate! library and CLI
Qalculate! library and CLI
Qalculate! is a multi-purpose cross-platform desktop calculator. It is simple to use but provides power and versatility normally reserved for complicated math packages, as well as useful tools for everyday needs (such as currency conversion and percent calculation). Features include a large library of customizable functions, unit calculations and conversion, symbolic calculations (including integrals and equations), arbitrary precision, uncertainty propagation, interval arithmetic, plotting, and a user-friendly interface (GTK+, Qt, and CLI).
Tip
Visit the website at https://qalculate.github.io/ to see additional screenshots, read the manual, and download the latest version.
For Linux distributions which provide separate development packages, these must be installed for all the required libraries (e.g. libmpfr-dev) before compilation.
Instructions and download links for installers, binaries packages, and the source code of released versions of Qalculate! are available at https://qalculate.github.io/downloads.html.
In a terminal window in the top source code directory run
./autogen.sh (not required if using a release source tarball, only if using the Git version)./configure (run automatically by autogen.sh)makemake install (as root, e.g. sudo make install)ldconfig (if necessary, as root)If libqalculate is installed in /usr/local (default) you may need to add /usr/local/lib to the library path of the system (add /usr/local/lib to a file under /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ and run ldconfig).
The API documentation is included in the package and is installed in $docdir/libqalculate/html (usually /usr/share/doc/libqalculate/html). It is generated when running autogen.sh.
It is also available online at http://qalculate.github.io/reference/index.html.
To calculate a single expression from the command line (non-interactive mode) enter
qalc mathematical expression (e.g. qalc 5+2)
qalc --help shows information about command line options in non-interactive mode.
If you run qalc without any mathematical expression the program will start in interactive mode, where you can enter multiple expressions with history and completion, manipulate the result and change settings. Type help in interactive mode for more information.
A man page is also available (shown using the command man qalc, or online at https://qalculate.github.io/manual/qalc.html).
The main user interfaces for libqalculate are qalculate-gtk (https://github.com/Qalculate/qalculate-gtk) and qalculate-qt (https://github.com/Qalculate/qalculate-qt).
Other software using libqalculate include
…and more…
Tip
For more details about the syntax, and available functions, units, and variables, please consult the manual (https://qalculate.github.io/manual/).
Note
Semicolon can be replaced with comma in function arguments, if comma is not used as decimal or thousands separator.
sqrt 4 # = sqrt(4) = 4^(0.5) = 4^(1/2) = 2 sqrt(25; 16; 9; 4) # = [5 4 3 2] sqrt(32) # = 4 × √(2) (in exact mode) cbrt(-27) # = root(-27; 3) = −3 (real root) (-27)^(1/3) # ≈ 1.5 + 2.5980762i (principal root) ln 25 # = log(25; e) ≈ 3.2188758 log2(4)/log10(100) # = log(4; 2)/log(100; 10) = 1 5! # = 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 = 120 5\2 # = 5//2 = trunc(5 / 2) = 2 (integer division) 5 mod 3 # = mod(5; 3) = 2 52 to factors # = 2^2 × 13 25/4 * 3/5 to fraction # = 3 + 3/4 gcd(63; 27) # = 9 sin(pi/2) - cos(pi) # = sin(90 deg) − cos(180 deg) = 2 sum(x; 1; 5) # = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 sum(\i^2+sin(\i); 1; 5; \i) # = 1^2 + sin(1) + 2^2 + sin(2) + … ≈ 55.176162 product(x; 1; 5) # = 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 = 120 var1:=5 # stores value 5 in variable var1 var1 * 2 # = 10 sinh(0.5) where sinh()=cosh() # = cosh(0.5) ≈ 1.1276260 plot(x^2; -5; 5) # plots the function y=x^2 from -5 to 5
Tip
to can be replace with an arrow (➞ or ->).
5 dm3 to l # = 5 dm^3 to L = 5 L 20 miles / 2 h to km/h # = 16.09344 km/h 1.74 to ft # = 1.74 m to ft ≈ 5 ft + 8.5039370 in 1.74 m to -ft # ≈ 5.7086614 ft 100 lbf * 60 mph to hp # ≈ 16 hp 50 Ω * 2 A # = 100 V 50 Ω * 2 A to base # = 100 kg·m²/(s³·A) 10 N / 5 Pa # = (10 N)/(5 Pa) = 2 m² 5 m/s to s/m # = 0.2 s/m €500 - 20% to £ # ≈ £347.12 500 megabit/s * 2 h to b?byte # ≈ 419.09516 gibibytes
k_e / G * a_0 # = (CoulombsConstant / NewtonianConstant) × BohrRadius ≈ 7.126e9 kg·H·m^−1 ℎ / (λ_C * c) # = planck ∕ (ComptonWavelength × SpeedOfLight) ≈ 9.1093837e-31 kg 5 ns * rydberg to c # ≈ 6.0793194E-8c atom(Hg; weight) + atom(C; weight) * 4 to g # ≈ 4.129e-22 g (G * planet(earth; mass) * planet(mars; mass))/(54.6e6 km)^2 # ≈ 8.58e16 N (gravitational attraction between earth and mars)
Note
Results with interval arithmetic activated are shown in parenthesis.
sin(5±0.2)^2/2±0.3 # ≈ 0.460±0.088 (0.46±0.12) (2±0.02 J)/(523±5 W) # ≈ 3.824±0.053 ms (3.825±0.075 ms) interval(-2; 5)^2 # ≈ interval(−8.2500000; 12.750000) (interval(0; 25))
Tip
"±" can be replaced with "+/-".
(5x^2 + 2)/(x - 3) # = 5x + 15 + 47/(x − 3) (\a + \b)(\a - \b) # = 'a'^2 − 'b'^2 (x + 2)(x - 3)^3 # = x^4 − 7x^3 + 9x^2 + 27x − 54 x^4 - 7x^3 + 9x^2 + 27x - 54 to factors # = (x + 2)(x − 3)^3 cos(x)+3y^2 where x=pi; y=2 # = 11 gcd(25x; 5x^2) # = 5x 1/(x^2+2x-3) to partial fraction # = 1/(4x − 4) − 1/(4x + 12) x+x^2+4 = 16 # x = 3 or x = −4 x^2/(5 m) - hypot(x; 4 m) = 2 m where x > 0 # x ≈ 7.1340411 m cylinder(20cm; x) = 20l # x = (1 / (2π)) m ≈ 16 cm asin(sqrt(x)) = 0.2 # x = sin(0.2)^2 ≈ 0.039469503 x^2 > 25x # x > 25 or x < 0 solve(x = y+ln(y); y) # = lambertw(e^x) solve2(5x=2y^2; sqrt(y)=2; x; y) # = 32/5 multisolve([5x=2y+32, y=2z, z=2x]; [x, y, z]) # = [−32/3 −128/3 −64/3] dsolve(diff(y; x) - 2y = 4x; 5) # = 6e^(2x) − 2x − 1
diff(6x^2) # = 12x diff(sinh(x^2)/(5x) + 3xy/sqrt(x)) # = (2/5) × cosh(x^2) − sinh(x^2)/(5x^2) + (3y)/(2 × √(x)) integrate(6x^2) # = 2x^3 + C integrate(6x^2; 1; 5) # = 248 integrate(sinh(x^2)/(5x) + 3xy/sqrt(x)) # = 2x × √(x) × y + Shi(x^2) / 10 + C integrate(sinh(x^2)/(5x) + 3xy/sqrt(x); 1; 2) # ≈ 3.6568542y + 0.87600760 limit(ln(1 + 4x)/(3^x - 1); 0) # = 4 / ln(3)
[1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6] # = [1 2 3; 4 5 6] (2×3 matrix) 1…5 = (1:5) = (1:1:5) # = [1 2 3 4 5] (1; 2; 3) * 2 - 2 # = [(1 × 2 − 2), (2 × 2 − 2), (3 × 2 − 2)] = [0 2 4] [1 2 3].[4 5 6] = dot([1 2 3]; [4 5 6]) # = 32 (dot product) cross([1 2 3]; [4 5 6]) # = [−3 6 −3] (cross product) [1 2 3; 4 5 6].*[7 8 9; 10 11 12] # = [7 16 27; 40 55 72] (hadamard product) [1 2 3; 4 5 6] * [7 8; 9 10; 11 12] # = [58 64; 139 154] (matrix multiplication) [1 2; 3 4]^-1 # = inverse([1 2; 3 4]) = [−2 1; 1.5 −0.5]
mean(5; 6; 4; 2; 3; 7) # = 4.5 stdev(5; 6; 4; 2; 3; 7) # ≈ 1.87 quartile([5 6 4 2 3 7]; 1) # = percentile((5; 6; 4; 2; 3; 7); 25) ≈ 2.9166667 normdist(7; 5) # ≈ 0.053990967 spearman(column(load(test.csv); 1); column(load(test.csv); 2)) # ≈ −0.33737388 (depends on the data in the CSV file)
10:31 + 8:30 to time # = 19:01 10h 31min + 8h 30min to time # = 19:01 now to utc # = "2020-07-10T07:50:40Z" "2020-07-10T07:50CET" to utc+8 # = "2020-07-10T14:50:00+08:00" "2020-05-20" + 523d # = addDays(2020-05-20; 523) = "2021-10-25" today - 5 days # = "2020-07-05" "2020-10-05" - today # = days(today; 2020-10-05) = 87 d timestamp(2020-05-20) # = 1 589 925 600 stamptodate(1 589 925 600) # = "2020-05-20T00:00:00" "2020-05-20" to calendars # returns date in Hebrew, Islamic, Persian, Indian, Chinese, Julian, Coptic, and Ethiopian calendars
52 to bin # = 0011 0100 52 to bin16 # = 0000 0000 0011 0100 52 to oct # = 064 52 to hex # = 0x34 0x34 = hex(34) # = base(34; 16) = 52 523<<2&250 to bin # = 0010 1000 52.345 to float # ≈ 0100 0010 0101 0001 0110 0001 0100 1000 float(01000010010100010110000101001000) # = 1715241/32768 ≈ 52.345001 floatError(52.345) # ≈ 1.2207031e-6 52.34 to sexa # = 52°20′24″ 1978 to roman # = MCMLXXVIII 52 to base 32 # = 1K sqrt(32) to base sqrt(2) # ≈ 100000 0xD8 to unicode # = Ø code(Ø) to hex # = 0xD8