Texas Instruments TI Programmable 57 User Manual

THE TRACKMAKERS: A TOUR
OF THE PROGRAMMING KEYS
Your calculator is a powerful problem-solving device; equipped with a
variety of features that are ready to, use — right from the keyboard. In
addition, though, your calculator. is programmable. This means you can
teach your calculator to,"‘push its own buttons’ to automatically perform
a variety of calculations (including those that involve decisions). You
can teach your calculator up to 50 problem-solving steps, and then have
it execute these steps as often as you,like — with the touch of a single key!
In
this
chapter
we'll
go
on
a
tour
of
the
keys
on
your
machine
especially
devoted
to
programs
and
programming.
If
you
already
have
some
.
programming,
experience,
you
may.
be
able
to
just
take
this
brief
tour,
pick
up
your
calculator
and
program
it
right
away.
Wuat's Happenina INsIDE:
The way your calculator “learns’’ a program is in reality quite simple.
There's a special memory, called a “program memory’ inside your
machine, that remembers the program keystrokes you teach it. As you
program your machine, each keystroke sequence you enter is stored in
order in this memory as a simple code. When you've finished entering a
program, your calculator can then go back, read the "codes" in order,
and push its own buttons for you in the exact sequence you've taught it
To enter a program, you use the programming keys clustered on the leit
side of your keyboard. These keys let you teach the calculator the
necessary problem-solving keystrokes. When you've taught your
calculator a program, it's as if you've set up “tracks” for it to run on — a
path for it to follow in solving your problem. When the calculator is
programmed and ready to go, you can start it off at the beginning of
these tracks and, much like a train, run down the line of steps you've
entered. The “track” is your program — stored in program memory and
the “train’’ is called the program pointer. As the train on the program
track comes to (or points to) each step you've programmed, the calculator
pushes its own buttons for you as it was directed.
This chapter, then, will give you a quick review of the “trackmakers”’
— or programming keys of your calculator.

Texas Instruments TI Programmable 57 Specifications

General

Brand	Texas Instruments
Model	TI Programmable 57
Category	Calculator
Language	English