0645: "RPS"

root · Postby **root** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:00 am UTC

Alt text: "It looks good, but it needs more postfixins."

Tofu-Sama · Postby **Tofu-Sama** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:01 am UTC

I missed out on part of the joke, I think...

Shale · Postby **Shale** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:02 am UTC

I completely don't get it.

crzftx · Postby **crzftx** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:02 am UTC

I don't get it either...

Kain · Postby **Kain** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:02 am UTC

The Joke. I don't get it.

kandalf · Postby **kandalf** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:03 am UTC

I think I missed out on all of the joke I think :/

Edit: Something to do with RPN?

Briareos · Postby **Briareos** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:03 am UTC

First one on the thread to get the joke! ^__^

Omegaton · Postby **Omegaton** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:03 am UTC

Someone please explain this joke for us uneducated masses.

RogerMurdock · Postby **RogerMurdock** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:03 am UTC

Referring to postfix notation, also called Reverse Polish Notation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

In Reverse Polish notation the operators follow their operands; for instance, to add three and four, one would write "3 4 +" rather than "3 + 4". If there are multiple operations, the operator is given immediately after its second operand; so the expression written "3 − 4 + 5" in conventional infix notation would be written "3 4 − 5 +" in RPN: first subtract 4 from 3, then add 5 to that. An advantage of RPN is that it obviates the need for parentheses that are required by infix. While "3 − 4 * 5" can also be written "3 − (4 * 5)", that means something quite different from "(3 − 4) * 5". In postfix, the former would be written "3 4 5 * −", which unambiguously means "3 (4 5 *) −".

StrandOfGibraltar · Postby **StrandOfGibraltar** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:03 am UTC

Lookup reverse polish notation.

10nitro · Postby **10nitro** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:04 am UTC

I don't get it either, but Polish Sausages are delicious.

[edit]Thanks RogerMurdock[/edit]

My topic was late by 12s

Zhentar · Postby **Zhentar** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:04 am UTC

The HP48G was clearly a superior calculator to the TI-83.

pianojosh · Postby **pianojosh** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:04 am UTC

me comic like

rgoomh · Postby **rgoomh** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:05 am UTC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

Very clever, Randall.

captain2obvious · Postby **captain2obvious** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:05 am UTC

I think i'm missing something.. Maybe Wiki can sort this out..

And doesn't this thread need a link to the actual comic?

hezekiah · Postby **hezekiah** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:06 am UTC

rgoomh wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

Very clever, Randall.

Beat me 'cause I had to log in...

Edit: I see rgoomh wasn't the first with a link. Anyhoo, meddling kids and whatnot. First one in quite a while I haven't gotten.

PhoenixEnigma · Postby **PhoenixEnigma** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:06 am UTC

I actually found it somewhat amusing. I'm not a huge RPN nerd like some are, but I still enjoyed it. I also enjoy a good sausage.

Pre-post-edit: uber ninja'd on the explanation. Still liking sausage. Fixins, pre or post, not needed.

Omegaton · Postby **Omegaton** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:07 am UTC

RogerMurdock wrote:Referring to postfix notation, also called Reverse Polish Notation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

In Reverse Polish notation the operators follow their operands; for instance, to add three and four, one would write "3 4 +" rather than "3 + 4". If there are multiple operations, the operator is given immediately after its second operand; so the expression written "3 − 4 + 5" in conventional infix notation would be written "3 4 − 5 +" in RPN: first subtract 4 from 3, then add 5 to that. An advantage of RPN is that it obviates the need for parentheses that are required by infix. While "3 − 4 * 5" can also be written "3 − (4 * 5)", that means something quite different from "(3 − 4) * 5". In postfix, the former would be written "3 4 5 * −", which unambiguously means "3 (4 5 *) −".

I wish I knew that before reading this comic, because then I'd probably have found it hilarious.

odie · Postby **odie** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:09 am UTC

i have to agree, more postfixins are needed, personally i like tomato sauce and onion on my hotdogs (for those Americans out there tomato sauce = ketchup)

Edit: i forgot to say what an awesome comic this is, it's the first one in a long time that's required me to think. its not the funniest but its going down as a 'great' in my book LOL

Shale · Postby **Shale** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:10 am UTC

Man, I actually did learn that in high school, way back in the day, but I haven't had cause to even think of it in ten years.

It gets a retroactive chuckle out of me, at least.

Comic JK · Postby **Comic JK** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:11 am UTC

Wow! This is a truly awesome one. Worthy of standing among the great xkcds of all time.

The fact that the joke is obscure is what makes it sweet.

Simon17 · Postby **Simon17** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:12 am UTC

Finally a decent comic!!!
I didn't laugh audibly, or even crack a smile, But it was a good joke!

captain2obvious · Postby **captain2obvious** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:12 am UTC

odie wrote:(for those Americans out there tomato sauce = ketchup)

Thanks for the cultural insight! No way I coulda put the two together! :wink:

Achmos · Postby **Achmos** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:14 am UTC

Damnit, I knew what it was and was going to post a link to wikipedia, but I forgot my password. >_< GAAAAHHHH!!!

But the good news is the second the comic loaded I had my first epic lol moment. Nice start to my week. :mrgreen:

edit: I'm surprised the first six posters didn't get the joke. o_O

Afakaz · Postby **Afakaz** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:14 am UTC

I grew up working the front counter at a family-owned bookstore, and our "register" was a leedger sheet and a polish calculator. I was 10 before I learned to use a standard notation calculator, lol

Troy Martin · Postby **Troy Martin** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:16 am UTC

I was cheeseing inside my head because if I cheese'd in real life the other folks in the room would be pissed.

And yes I used cheese as a verb. It's sort of a contraction of being burnt by the cheese.

crzftx · Postby **crzftx** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:19 am UTC

Deleted

Kayube · Postby **Kayube** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:21 am UTC

I should have gotten this joke. I probably would have if it had been posted two years ago when I was doing a computer science assignment about prefix/postfix/infix.

Brad · Postby **Brad** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:23 am UTC

This commic was very very funny. Even more funny then an Oregon Trail reference!

I especially liked how there was mustard on that weiner. Ha ha Ha!

True story: this one time I accidentally set my watch to reverse polack notation and it made my sister grow a mustashe.

exchequer · Postby **exchequer** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:25 am UTC

Oh, Wikipedia. Always there when I need to fit in. Fun comic, too.

Nasaniaru · Postby **Nasaniaru** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:25 am UTC

Man, its been a while since I didn't get a joke from Randall's comics. I'm glad he's going to his older roots with math humor and without a sex reference. I wish for more high-brow jokes like this as it actually gives me a chance to learn something that I didn't know.

aldld · Postby **aldld** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:30 am UTC

Took me a while to get this one. That must mean that it's good!

Also, I do like sausages

exchequer · Postby **exchequer** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:32 am UTC

Nasaniaru wrote:I wish for more high-brow jokes like this as it actually gives me a chance to learn something that I didn't know.

Agreed, especially since I'm not well-versed in math topics. Totally worth not getting the joke at first glance.

Tofu-Sama · Postby **Tofu-Sama** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:38 am UTC

RogerMurdock wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

Thank you, Roger.
It's been a long time since I read up on RPN, I had forgotten about it. It's good to relearn things. I think this would have been at least somewhat funny for me had I understood it in the first place.

bridgeyman · Postby **bridgeyman** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:39 am UTC

I was calculator shopping yesterday, and just barely explained Reverse Polish Notation to one of my friends! I guess this is my "get out of my head, Randall" moments.

brakos82 · Postby **brakos82** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:44 am UTC

First reaction: "Huh?"
Second reaction (after reading about 5 posts): "Huh?!"
Third reaction (after reading the wiki): "Ah, okay."
Fourth reaction (re-read the comic): "I really need to get out less."

Anubis · Postby **Anubis** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:48 am UTC

This is officially the first XKCD that I did not get.

'; DROP DATABASE;-- · Postby **'; DROP DATABASE;--** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:50 am UTC

I added some cheese to mine, and it burned me. :mrgreen:

meat.paste · Postby **meat.paste** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:50 am UTC

Ah, RPN. I still use it daily on my trusty old HP 41-CX. Every time I pick up a "standard" calculator to do a multi-step calculation, I find it would have been quicker to walk back to my desk to get my calculator to figure out the answer (I rarely make it through a 4 or 5 step calculation without forgetting to use (), hitting the = key, or using a function (+,-,*,/) BEFORE typing in the new number.)

Still, the comic would have been better (imho) if there had been some more steps (sausage, mustard, bun, +, +, mouth, +, "YUM!")

Max2009 · Postby **Max2009** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:02 am UTC

Right. So, I knew about reverse Polish Notation, but that's because we had a cs assignment to write a program like that last year.
Still, not that funny.
But I do appreciate the color.

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