Chapter 11. Turbocharging math with programming

Programming is what made my personal passion for graphing calculators blossom. I started using a TI-82 in sixth grade and got my own TI-83 that Christmas. I used calculators through 15 years of school, and I’ve been helping people use graphing calculators for math for nearly the same amount of time. But discovering that a graphing calculator could be programmed like a computer helped me realize that far from being a specialized tool, a graphing calculator is actually a pocket computer—and quite a capable one at that.

Knowing how to do any sort of programming is an important skill to have, and graphing calculators can provide the perfect first step. Why should you learn calculator programming?

11.1. Hello World, your first program

11.2. Writing a Quadratic Formula solver

11.3. A crash course in programming commands

11.4. Putting it all together: programming, SATs, math, and more

11.5. Summary: taking programming further