views:

5840

answers:

44

Challenge

Here is the challenge (of my own invention, though I wouldn't be surprised if it has previously appeared elsewhere on the web).

Write a function that takes a single argument that is a string representation of a simple mathematical expression and evaluates it as a floating point value. A "simple expression" may include any of the following: positive or negative decimal numbers, +, -, *, /, (, ). Expressions use (normal) infix notation. Operators should be evaluated in the order they appear, i.e. not as in BODMAS, though brackets should be correctly observed, of course. The function should return the correct result for any possible expression of this form. However, the function does not have to handle malformed expressions (i.e. ones with bad syntax).

Examples of expressions:

1 + 3 / -8                            = -0.5       (No BODMAS)
2*3*4*5+99                            = 219
4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8         = 10
1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)            = 4
2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)              = 2.68...

Rules

I anticipate some form of "cheating"/craftiness here, so please let me forewarn against it! By cheating, I refer to the use of the eval or equivalent function in dynamic languages such as JavaScript or PHP, or equally compiling and executing code on the fly. (I think my specification of "no BODMAS" has pretty much guaranteed this however.) Apart from that, there are no restrictions. I anticipate a few Regex solutions here, but it would be nice to see more than just that.

Now, I'm mainly interested in a C#/.NET solution here, but any other language would be perfectly acceptable too (in particular, F# and Python for the functional/mixed approaches). I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to accept the shortest or most ingenious solution (at least for the language) as the answer, but I would welcome any form of solution in any language, except what I've just prohibited above!

My Solution

I've now posted my C# solution here (403 chars). Update: My new solution has beaten the old one significantly at 294 chars, with the help of a bit of lovely regex! I suspected that this will get easily beaten by some of the languages out there with lighter syntax (particularly the funcional/dynamic ones), and have been proved right, but I'd be curious if someone could beat this in C# still.

Update

I've seen some very crafty solutions already. Thanks to everyone who has posted one. Although I haven't tested any of them yet, I'm going to trust people and assume they at least work with all of the given examples.

Just for the note, re-entrancy (i.e. thread-safety) is not a requirement for the function, though it is a bonus.


Format

Please post all answers in the following format for the purpose of easy comparison:

Language

Number of characters: ???

Fully obfuscated function:

(code here)

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

(code here)

Any notes on the algorithm/clever shortcuts it takes.


+23  A: 

Python

Number of characters: 237

Fully obfuscated function:

from operator import*
def e(s,l=[]):
 if s:l+=list(s.replace(' ','')+')')
 a=0;o=add;d=dict(zip(')*+-/',(0,mul,o,sub,div)));p=l.pop
 while o:
  c=p(0)
  if c=='(':c=e(0)
  while l[0]not in d:c+=p(0)
  a=o(a,float(c));o=d[p(0)]
 return a

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

import operator

def calc(source, stack=[]):
    if source:
        stack += list(source.replace(' ', '') + ')')

    answer = 0

    ops = {
        ')': 0,
        '*': operator.mul,
        '+': operator.add,
        '-': operator.sub,
        '/': operator.div,
    }

    op = operator.add
    while op:
        cur = stack.pop(0)

        if cur == '(':
            cur = calc(0)

        while stack[0] not in ops:
            cur += stack.pop(0)

        answer = op(answer, float(cur))
        op = ops[stack.pop(0)]

    return answer
Dave
Note: the current version doesn't handle an input like -(1.0)though it does handle negative literals correctly. It wasn't clear from the spec if this is required.
Dave
One can make l non-global for free by tucking it into the parameter list of e. Still won't be thread-safe, however.
Dave
Very cunning. That was well worth the effort of interpreting. :)
Nick Johnson
@Dave: Mine fails on `-(1.0)` too, so no worries! I'll clarify the question. Anyway, very clever solution it seems - I'm still trying to figure out how it works though (not exactly knowing Python). If you could add a brief explanation, that would be much appreciated.
Noldorin
+2  A: 

Ruby 1.9

(because of the regex)

Number of characters: 296

def d(s)
  while m = s.match(/((?<pg>\((?:\\[()]|[^()]|\g<pg>)*\)))/)
    s.sub!(m[:pg], d(m[:pg][1,m[:pg].size-2]))
  end
  while m = s.match(/(-?\d+(\.\d+)?)\s*([*+\-\/])\s*(-?\d+(\.\d+)?)/)
    r=m[1].to_f.send(m[3],m[4].to_f) if %w{+ - * /}.include?m[3]
    s.sub!(m[0], r.to_s)
  end
  s
end

EDIT: Includes Martin's optimization.

Daniel Huckstep
r=m[1].to_f.send(m[3],m[4].to_f) if %w{+ - * /}.include?m[3]
Martin Carpenter
Even better! I was trying to think of a nice way of doing that, and it skipped my mind.
Daniel Huckstep
+16  A: 

C99

Number of characters: 239 (But see below for 209)

compressed function:

#define S while(*e==32)++e
#define F float
F strtof();char*e;F v();F g(){S;return*e++-40?strtof(e-1,&e):v();}F v(){F b,a=g();for(;;){S;F o=*e++;if(!o|o==41)return a;b=g();a=o==43?a+b:o==45?a-b:o==42?a*b:a/b;}}F f(char*x){e=x;return v();}

decompressed function:

float strtof();

char* e;
float v();

float g() {
    while (*e == ' ') ++e;
    return *e++ != '(' ? strtof(e-1, &e) : v();
}

float v() {
    float b, a = g();
    for (;;) {
        while (*e == ' ') ++e;
        float op = *e++;
        if (op == 0 || op == ')') return a;
        b = g();
        a = op == '+' ? a + b : op == '-' ? a - b : op == '*' ? a * b : a / b;
    }
}

float eval(char* x) {
    e = x;
    return v();
}

Function is not re-entrant.

EDIT from Chris Lutz: I hate to trample on another man's code, but here is a 209-character version:

#define S for(;*e==32;e++)
#define X (*e++-40?strtof(e-1,&e):v())
float strtof();char*e;float v(){float o,a=X;for(;;){S;o=*e++;if(!o|o==41)return a;S;a=o-43?o-45?o-42?a/X:a*X:a-X:a+X;}}
#define f(x) (e=x,v())

Readable (well, not really very readable, but decompressed):

float strtof();
char *e;
float v() {
    float o, a = *e++ != '(' ? strtof(e - 1, &e) : v();
    for(;;) {
        for(; *e == ' '; e++);
        o = *e++;
        if(o == 0 || o==')') return a;
        for(; *e == ' '; e++);
        // I have no idea how to properly indent nested conditionals
        // and this is far too long to fit on one line.
        a = o != '+' ?
          o != '-' ?
            o != '*' ?
              a / (*e++ != '(' ? strtof(e - 1, &e) : v()) :
              a * (*e++ != '(' ? strtof(e - 1, &e) : v()) :
            a - (*e++ != '(' ? strtof(e - 1, &e) : v()) :
          a + (*e++ != '(' ? strtof(e - 1, &e) : v());
      }
}
#define f(x) (e = x, v())

Yeah, f() is a macro, not a function, but it works. The readable version has some of the logic rewritten but not reordered (like o != '+' instead of o - '+'), but is otherwise just an indented (and preprocessed) version of the other one. I keep trying to simplify the if(!o|o==41)return a; part into the for() loop, but it never makes it shorter. I still believe it can be done, but I'm done golfing. If I work on this question anymore, it will be in the language that must not be named.

Ferruccio
Nice solution, and bonus points for using "pure" C. Beats mine by 3 chars, as well! Re-entrancy wasn't in the rules, so that's fine. (It is a plus however.)
Noldorin
Nice! You can shave off a few more characters by using ASCII codes, e.g. replace '0' with 48, etc. And of course, you can save a bunch by using atof() instead of your home-grown float parser, but you're intentionally not using library functions, which is not a strict requirement of the problem.
Adam Rosenfield
I was thinking of using atof() but it doesn't tell you where the float string ends so you would need to parse it anyway.
Ferruccio
Thanks for the tip, Adam. Using that and a couple of other (ugly) tricks, I shrunk it a bit further.
Ferruccio
Ouch, I didn't count on negative numbers. Code inflated to 400 characters.
Ferruccio
Oh right; I guess you can't use atof(), but you could use strtod() or sscanf() with a %n modifier.
Adam Rosenfield
One more microoptimization: replace "o==0||o==41" with "!o|o==41"
Adam Rosenfield
Nice tip concerning strtod(), I didn't even know about it. It cut it down quite a bit in spite of the fact that it needs a #include.
Ferruccio
You can save two characters by using the fact that strtod() skips leading whitespace.
Dave
Not really, Dave, it still has to skip whitespace in the case where there is a ( and not a number.
Ferruccio
Doh! I don't need the W macro anymore!
Ferruccio
Yet another shaving: replace the #include with an exlpicit declaration of "double strtod();". In C (but NOT C++), an empty set of parens means the function takes any number of parameters of any type. Unfortunately, the declaration cannot be elided completely because it doesn't return int.
Adam Rosenfield
Actually, screw strtod() and use strtof() instead (C99 only)! Saves one more character (if you declare it yourself instead of including stdlib.h), and gets rid of a double-to-float warning.
Adam Rosenfield
Shaved a few more characters by making op a float instead of char. Made me a little queasy, but it worked.
Ferruccio
Well done for the persistence! I'm not sure you're going to catch the Haskell/Python solutions, but you're amazingly close, much more so than I ever thought a solution in C would get. Interestingly, I believe this entire solution could be converted to C# at a minimal char cost.
Noldorin
You can save a few more characters by using something I used in my perl solution - the last octal digit of the character codes is different for each operator character, so {{F o=*e++;if(!o|o==41)...}} is equivalent to {{F o=7if(o<2)...}}. You should be able to squeeze some more characters out by using "<" and single digits for the rest of that long line; just sort by operator character code.
Daniel Martin
#define R return
Nosredna
@Nosredna: I thought of that but it actually wound up increasing the size by a couple of characters. One more return and it would have worked.
Ferruccio
Oh yeah! You're right!
Nosredna
After a day of golfing, I've got one down to 214, but I'm going to see if I can shave off any more before I post it (I'm aiming to break 200, but I doubt it'll happen). Hints to what I did: g() and f() are simple enough to inline, strtof()'s chews up leading whitespace for you, o-41 is the same as o!=41 but shorter. I'll post code soon if I can't shave any more off.
Chris Lutz
209 and I'm posting it and freeing myself from this. Should I edit this post and add my solution or make a new one?
Chris Lutz
feel free to edit this post if you want
Ferruccio
+ This is a riot. It is kinda like what I do in performance tuning big software, when I get the chance. I don't obfuscate, but I love lopping off big factors.
Mike Dunlavey
Woohoo! Clunky old C is now beating every Python solution up here, as well as Haskell!
Chris Lutz
Clever. Go team C!
Ferruccio
Does the preprocessor let you do this and then use D for #define? If so, I can cut another couple characters, I think. --- #define D #define
Nosredna
@Nosredna - No, it doesn't. It checks macro expansions for other macros, but not for new preprocessor directives.
Chris Lutz
+2  A: 

Python

Number of characters: 492

Mildly obfuscated function (short variable names, no spaces around operators):

def e(s):
    q=[]
    b=1
    v=[]
    for c in s.replace(' ','')+'$':
     if c in '.0123456789' or c in '+-' and b and not v:
      v+=[c]
     else:
      if v:
       q+=[float(''.join(v))]
       v=[]
      while len(q)>=3:
       x,y,z=q[-3:]
       if type(x)==type(z)==float:
        if y=='+':q[-3:]=[x+z]
        elif y=='-':q[-3:]=[x-z]
        elif y=='*':q[-3:]=[x*z]
        elif y=='/':q[-3:]=[x/z]
       elif (x,z)==('(',')'):q[-3:]=[y]
       else:break
      if c=='$':break
      q+=[c]
      b=c!=')'
    return q[0]

I think this is relatively easy to understand. It's a pretty straightforward, naive approach. It doesn't import anything, doesn't use regex, is fully self-contained (single function, no globals, no side-effects), and should handle signed literals (positive or negative). Using more sensible variable names and adhering to recommended Python formatting increases the character count to more like 850-900, a big chunk of that from using four spaces instead of a single tab for indentation.

John Y
Does that char count include all the whitespace? If so, you could reduce it by a lot I'm sure. Well, the code pretty clear anyway, so good job with that. It's also a bonus that it's re-entrant.
Noldorin
My character count was what the editor told me was the size of the selection from the 'd' in "def" to the ']' at the end of the return. So that includes one character (a tab, for readability) for each indent level. This indentation is necessary for Python, so it has to be counted. Thanks for the comment; I knew I would never compete on pure character count or ingenuity.
John Y
Yeah, fair enough. I just observed that the other poster with a Python solution got away with using a single space for indentation, but if you're using tabs than that's equivalent.
Noldorin
I just noticed a brain fart in my code. Why did I make v a list instead of simply a string? The string not only saves 11 characters, but is also a little clearer, since it's what I eventually need anyway (Python's ''.join() isn't exactly the most intuitive).
John Y
+22  A: 

Haskell

Number of characters: 182

No attempt at cleverness, just some compression: 4 lines, 312 bytes.

import Data.Char;import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec
q=either(error.show)id.runParser t id"".filter(' '/=);t=do
s<-getState;a<-fmap read(many1$oneOf".-"<|>digit)<|>between(char '('>>setState id)(char ')'>>setState s)t
option(s a)$choice(zipWith(\c o->char c>>return(o$s a))"+-*/"[(+),(-),(*),(/)])>>=setState>>t

And now, really getting into the golf spirit, 3 lines and 182 bytes:

q=snd.(`e`id).filter(' '/=)
e s c|[(f,h)]<-readsPrec 0 s=g h(c f);e('(':s)c=g h(c f)where(')':h,f)=e s id
g('+':h)=e h.(+);g('-':h)=e h.(-);g('*':h)=e h.(*);g('/':h)=e h.(/);g h=(,)h

Exploded:

-- Strip spaces from the input, evaluate with empty accumulator,
-- and output the second field of the result.
q :: String -> Double
q = snd . flip eval id . filter (not . isSpace)

-- eval takes a string and an accumulator, and returns
-- the final value and what’s left unused from the string.
eval :: (Fractional a, Read a) => String -> (a -> a) -> (String, a)

-- If the beginning of the string parses as a number, add it to the accumulator,
-- then try to read an operator and further.
eval str accum | [(num, rest)] <- readsPrec 0 str = oper rest (accum num)

-- If the string starts parentheses, evaluate the inside with a fresh
-- accumulator, and continue after the closing paren.
eval ('(':str) accum = oper rest (accum num) where (')':rest, num) = eval str id

-- oper takes a string and current value, and tries to read an operator
-- to apply to the value.  If there is none, it’s okay.
oper :: (Fractional a, Read a) => String -> a -> (String, a)

-- Handle operations by giving eval a pre-seeded accumulator.
oper ('+':str) num = eval str (num +)
oper ('-':str) num = eval str (num -)
oper ('*':str) num = eval str (num *)
oper ('/':str) num = eval str (num /)

-- If there’s no operation parsable, just return.
oper str num = (str, num)
ephemient
I suspect that it may still be possible to get below 225, but this is as far as I can get at 3am.
ephemient
That appears to be quite an elegant functional solution. (One that I certainly wouldn't have understand without the comments, so thanks for those.) Also, you're just marginally ahead of Dave's Python solution at the moment, so you seem to be leading! I'd be curious if an F# solution could match or even beat this.
Noldorin
It's interesting to me that the Parsec solution (parser combinators = generalized regex + more), even if minimization was attempted, doesn't come close to the hand-rolled parsing. I don't think F#'s syntax can be as concise as Haskell, but I'd welcome some competition too :)
ephemient
@ephemient: I tried using both regex and the parser module in Python quickly. Was almost immediately below 300 chars, but saw no chance to get competitive. The issue is the import and the function calls eat up too much. That is true for most languages (exception Perl). BTW, you don't have to parse yourself to get substantially below 300 chars, as my solution shows.
stephan
I think you're over penalizing your character count. The problem asked for a String->Double function, so you should count characters by replacing "main=interact$show." with "q=", for 17 more characters, putting your count at 209.
Daniel Martin
+10  A: 

JavaScript (Not IE compatible)

Number of characters: 268/260

Fully obfuscated function:

function e(x){x=x.replace(/ /g,'')+')'
function P(n){return x[0]=='('?(x=x.substr(1),E()):(n=/^[-+]?[\d.]+/(x)[0],x=x.substr(n.length),+n)}function E(a,o,b){a=P()
for(;;){o=x[0]
x=x.substr(1)
if(o==')')return a
b=P()
a=o=='+'?a+b:o=='-'?a-b:o=='*'?a*b:a/b}}return E()}

or, in JavaScript 1.8 (Firefox 3+), you can save a few characters by using expression closures:

e=function(x,P,E)(x=x.replace(/ /g,'')+')',P=function(n)(x[0]=='('?(x=x.substr(1),E()):(n=/^[-+]?[\d.]+/(x)[0],x=x.substr(n.length),+n)),E=function(a,o,b){a=P()
for(;;){o=x[0]
x=x.substr(1)
if(o==')')return a
b=P()
a=o=='+'?a+b:o=='-'?a-b:o=='*'?a*b:a/b}},E())

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

function evaluate(x) {
    x = x.replace(/ /g, "") + ")";
    function primary() {
        if (x[0] == '(') {
            x = x.substr(1);
            return expression();
        }

        var n = /^[-+]?\d*\.?\d*/.exec(x)[0];
        x = x.substr(n.length);
        return +n;
    }

    function expression() {
        var a = primary();
        for (;;) {
            var operator = x[0];
            x = x.substr(1);

            if (operator == ')') {
                return a;
            }

            var b = primary();
            a = (operator == '+') ? a + b :
                (operator == '-') ? a - b :
                (operator == '*') ? a * b :
                                    a / b;
        }
    }

    return expression();
}

Neither version will work in IE, because they use array-style subscripting on the string. If you replace both occurrences of x[0] with x.charAt(0), the first one should work everywhere.

I cut out some more characters since the first version by turning variables into function parameters and replacing another if statement with the conditional operator.

Matthew Crumley
That's pretty good. I was waiting for someone to use regex here. :) It would seem like dynamic languages definitely have an advantage for this problem.
Noldorin
+4  A: 

C#

Number of characters: 396 (updated)

(but fails the test you added with "/ -8", and I'm not inclined to fix it...

static float Eval(string s){int i,j;s=s.Trim();while((i=s.IndexOf(')'))>=0){j=s.LastIndexOf('(',i,i);s=s.Substring(0,j++)+Eval(s.Substring(j,i-j))+s.Substring(i+1);}if((i=s.LastIndexOfAny("+-*/".ToCharArray()))<0) return float.Parse(s);var r=float.Parse(s.Substring(i+1));var l=i>0?Eval(s.Substring(0,i)):(float?)null;return s[i]=='+'?(l??0)+r:(s[i]=='-'?(l??0)-r:(s[i]=='/'?(l??1)/r:(l??1)*r));}

From:

static float Eval(string s)
{
    int i, j;
    s = s.Trim();
    while ((i = s.IndexOf(')')) >= 0)
    {
        j = s.LastIndexOf('(', i, i);
        s = s.Substring(0, j++) + Eval(s.Substring(j, i - j)) + s.Substring(i + 1);
    } 
    if ((i = s.LastIndexOfAny("+-*/".ToCharArray())) < 0) return float.Parse(s);
    var r = float.Parse(s.Substring(i + 1));
    var l = i > 0 ? Eval(s.Substring(0, i)) : (float?)null;
    return s[i] == '+'
        ? (l ?? 0) + r
        : (s[i] == '-'
            ? (l ?? 0) - r
            : (s[i] == '/'
                ? (l ?? 1) / r
                : (l ?? 1) * r));
}
Marc Gravell
Ah wonderful, a C# solution. Your use of nullable types in particular is quite interesting. 484 seems pretty good, given that you didn't have the time to tidy it up. (One improvement would be to convert the switch statement into a series of ifs, I believe.) I've posted my own C# solution now, if you wish to compare. :)
Noldorin
+5  A: 

C#

Number of characters: 403

So here's my solution... I'm still waiting for someone to post one in C# that can beat it. (Marc Gravell was close, and may yet do better than me after some more tinkering.)

Fully obfuscated function:

float e(string x){float v=0;if(float.TryParse(x,out v))return v;x+=';';int t=0;
char o,s='?',p='+';float n=0;int l=0;for(int i=0;i<x.Length;i++){o=s;if(
x[i]!=' '){s=x[i];if(char.IsDigit(x[i])|s=='.'|(s=='-'&o!='1'))s='1';if(s==')')
l--;if(s!=o&l==0){if(o=='1'|o==')'){n=e(x.Substring(t,i-t));if(p=='+')v+=n;
if(p=='-')v-=n;if(p=='*')v*=n;if(p=='/')v/=n;p=x[i];}t=i;if(s=='(')t++;}
if(s=='(')l++;}}return v;}

Semi-obfuscated function:

public static float Eval(string expr)
{
    float val = 0;
    if (float.TryParse(expr, out val))
        return val;
    expr += ';';
    int tokenStart = 0;
    char oldState, state = '?', op = '+';
    float num = 0;
    int level = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < expr.Length; i++)
    {
        oldState = state;
        if (expr[i] != ' ')
        {
            state = expr[i];
            if (char.IsDigit(expr[i]) || state == '.' ||
                (state == '-' && oldState != '1'))
                state = '1';
            if (state == ')')
                level--;
            if (state != oldState && level == 0)
            {
                if (oldState == '1' || oldState == ')')
                {
                    num = Eval(expr.Substring(tokenStart, i - tokenStart));
                    if (op == '+') val += num;
                    if (op == '-') val -= num;
                    if (op == '*') val *= num;
                    if (op == '/') val /= num;
                    op = expr[i];
                }
                tokenStart = i;
                if (state == '(')
                    tokenStart++;
            }
            if (state == '(')
                level++;
        }
    }
    return val;
}

Nothing too clever going on here, it woul seem. The function does however have the advantage of being re-entrant (i.e. thread-safe).

I am also reasonably pleased with the number of chars, given that it's written in C# (valid 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 I believe).

Noldorin
Any tips on how I might reduce the char count further would be welcome. (The is my first real attempt at code golf.)
Noldorin
I got it < 400, but it fails the edited test you added ;-p
Marc Gravell
Suggestions: "var" for float, char - only shaves a few, and loses the C# 1.2/2.0 compatibility, though.
Marc Gravell
@Marc: Yeah, that's about as far as I got too. With a few other minor changes, I might get it down to 390, but no less.
Noldorin
Nice solution Nolorin. I was able to get your solution down to 361
Chris Persichetti
@Chris: Thanks - though now I'm curious how you managed to get the char count down so much. (I could probably knock off about 15 or 20 more myself, but no more.) Mind sharing it with us? Feel free to edit my post, even.
Noldorin
I've gotten it down to 294 chars using a bit of regex. :) See my new answer: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/928563/code-golf-evaluating-mathematical-expressions/944716#944716
Noldorin
Doesn't work for unary minus: (5 + 5) * (3 + 2)-1 Evaluates to 51.
Sheed
+3  A: 

Ruby 1.8.7

Number of characters: 620

Do try and take it easy on my implementation, it's the first time I've written an expression parser in my life! I guarantee that it isn't the best.

Obfuscated:

def solve_expression(e)
t,r,s,c,n=e.chars.to_a,[],'','',''
while(c=t.shift)
n=t[0]
if (s+c).match(/^(-?)[.\d]+$/) || (!n.nil? && n.match(/\d/) && c=='-')
s+=c
elsif (c=='-' && n=='(') || c=='('
m,o,x=c=='-',1,''
while(c=t.shift)
o+=1 if c=='('
o-=1 if c==')'
x+=c unless c==')' && o==0
break if o==0
end
r.push(m ? -solve_expression(x) : solve_expression(x))
s=''
elsif c.match(/[+\-\/*]/)
r.push(c) and s=''
else
r.push(s) if !s.empty?
s=''
end
end
r.push(s) unless s.empty?
i=1
a=r[0].to_f
while i<r.count
b,c=r[i..i+1]
c=c.to_f
case b
when '+': a=a+c
when '-': a=a-c
when '*': a=a*c
when '/': a=a/c
end
i+=2
end
a
end

Readable:

def solve_expression(expr)
  chars = expr.chars.to_a # characters of the expression
  parts = [] # resulting parts
  s,c,n = '','','' # current string, character, next character

  while(c = chars.shift)
    n = chars[0]
    if (s + c).match(/^(-?)[.\d]+$/) || (!n.nil? && n.match(/\d/) && c == '-') # only concatenate when it is part of a valid number
      s += c
    elsif (c == '-' && n == '(') || c == '(' # begin a sub-expression
      negate = c == '-'
      open = 1
      subExpr = ''
      while(c = chars.shift)
        open += 1 if c == '('
        open -= 1 if c == ')'
        # if the number of open parenthesis equals 0, we've run to the end of the
        # expression.  Make a new expression with the new string, and add it to the
        # stack.
        subExpr += c unless c == ')' && open == 0
        break if open == 0
      end
      parts.push(negate ? -solve_expression(subExpr) : solve_expression(subExpr))
      s = ''
    elsif c.match(/[+\-\/*]/)
      parts.push(c) and s = ''
    else
      parts.push(s) if !s.empty?
      s = ''
    end
  end
  parts.push(s) unless s.empty? # expression exits 1 character too soon.

  # now for some solutions!
  i = 1
  a = parts[0].to_f # left-most value is will become the result
  while i < parts.count
    b,c = parts[i..i+1]
    c = c.to_f
    case b
      when '+': a = a + c
      when '-': a = a - c
      when '*': a = a * c
      when '/': a = a / c
    end
    i += 2
  end
  a
end
The Wicked Flea
That's quite good for a first attempt, and the length isn't hugely off the others anyway. Certainly, the algorithm is pretty clear. Note that you can reduce the char count significantly just by using one-letter variable names!
Noldorin
Thanks. My last bug took awhile to fix, but in general it wasn't anything brain-wracking; thankfully it functions fully.
The Wicked Flea
+6  A: 

PHP

Number of characters: 284

obfuscated:

function f($m){return c($m[1]);}function g($n,$m){$o=$m[0];$m[0]=' ';return$o=='+'?$n+$m:($o=='-'?$n-$m:($o=='*'?$n*$m:$n/$m));}function c($s){while($s!=($t=preg_replace_callback('/\(([^()]*)\)/',f,$s)))$s=$t;preg_match_all('![-+/*].*?[\d.]+!',"+$s",$m);return array_reduce($m[0],g);}

readable:

function callback1($m) {return c($m[1]);}
function callback2($n,$m) {
    $o=$m[0];
    $m[0]=' ';
    return $o=='+' ? $n+$m : ($o=='-' ? $n-$m : ($o=='*' ? $n*$m : $n/$m));
}
function c($s){ 
    while ($s != ($t = preg_replace_callback('/\(([^()]*)\)/','callback1',$s))) $s=$t;
    preg_match_all('![-+/*].*?[\d.]+!', "+$s", $m);
    return array_reduce($m[0], 'callback2');
}


$str = '  2.45/8.5  *  -9.27   +    (   5   *  0.0023  ) ';
var_dump(c($str));
# float(-2.66044117647)

Should work with any valid input (including negative numbers and arbitrary whitespace)

soulmerge
+12  A: 

Common Lisp

(SBCL)
Number of characters: 251

(defun g(e)(if(numberp e)e(let((m (g (pop e)))(o(loop for x in e by #'cddr collect x))(n(loop for x in (cdr e)by #'cddr collect (g x))))(mapcar(lambda(x y)(setf m(apply x(list m y))))o n)m)))(defun w(e)(g(read-from-string(concatenate'string"("e")"))))

Proper version (387 chars):

(defun wrapper (exp) (golf-eval (read-from-string (concatenate 'string "(" exp ")"))))

(defun golf-eval (exp)
 (if (numberp exp)
     exp
   (let ((mem (golf-eval (pop exp)))
     (op-list (loop for x in exp by #'cddr collect x))
     (num-list (loop for x in (cdr exp) by #'cddr collect (golf-eval x))))
    (mapcar (lambda (x y) (setf mem (apply x (list mem y)))) op-list num-list)
    mem)))

Input is form w(), which takes one string argument. It uses the trick that nums/operands and operators are in the pattern N O N O N ... and recursively evaluates all operands, and therefore getting nesting very cheap. ;)

johanbev
Clever solution. Nonetheless, I'm not quite sure it's completely valid given that the specification was for the function to take a string object.
Noldorin
Sorry about that. Fixed!
johanbev
No problem. Didn't realise the conversion was so easy. Good solution, still!
Noldorin
Wow. That's beutiful. :)
Emil H
+2  A: 

Python 3K

(its 3K because / converts the result to a floating point number)

Number of characters: 808

Clear (I cannot write obfuscated code in Python XD):

def parse(line):
  ops = {"+": lambda x,y:x+y,
       "-": lambda x,y:x-y,
       "*": lambda x,y:x*y,
       "/": lambda x,y:x/y}
  def tpp(s, t):
    if len(s) > 0 and s[-1] in ops:
      f = ops[s.pop()]
      t = f(s.pop(), t)
    return t
  line = line + " "
  s = []
  t = 0
  m = None
  for c in line:
    if c in "0123456789":
      if not m:
        m = "i"
      if m == "i":
        t = t*10 + ord(c)-ord("0")
      elif m =="d":
        t = t + e*(ord(c)-ord("0"))
        e*=0.1
    elif c == ".":
      m = "d"
      e = 0.1
    elif m:
      t = tpp(s,t)
      s.append(t)
      m = None
      t = 0

    if c in ops or c == "(":
      s.append(c)
    elif c == ")":
      t = s.pop()
      s.pop()
      s.append(tpp(s,t))
      t = 0
  t = s.pop()
  if int(t) == t:
    t = int(t)
  return t

I'm not using any kind of regular expression, even the number parsing is made by hand ;-)

Quite simple, scans the line, it can be in 3 different modes (m), None that means that there's no number being parsed, "i" that means that it is parsing the integer part and "d" that means that is parsing the decimal part.

It uses a stack to store the temporary computations, when it has finished parsing a number sees if it there was an operator in the stack, in that case evals and pushes. The opening parens are just pushed and the closing parens remove the opening paren and repush the current eval.

Fairly simple and straightfordward :-)

fortran
+6  A: 

F#

Number of characters: 327

OP was looking for an F# version, here it is. Can be done a lot nicer since I'm abusing a ref here to save characters. It handles most things such as -(1.0), 3 - -3 and even 0 - .5 etc.

let g s=
 let c=ref[for x in System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(s,"[0-9.]+|[^\s]")->x.Value]
 let rec e v=if (!c).IsEmpty then v else 
  let h=(!c).Head
  c:=(!c).Tail
  match h with|"("->e(e 0.0)|")"->v|"+"->e(v+(e 0.0))|"-"->e(v-(e 0.0))|"/"->e(v/(e 0.0))|"*"->e(v*(e 0.0))|x->float x
 e(e 0.0)
thr
Indeed, I was hoping for an F# solution. Thanks for that. Char count is pretty decent too, especially considering that "System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches" takes up an absurd number of characters.
Noldorin
yeah, same with the .Value.IsEmpty/Tail/Head calls - I got a new version in the works ;p hoping for sub250 chars.
thr
I'm not actually sure whether in some code golf contests you are allowed import/using statements outside the char count. That would definitely help, if so. :) Looking forward to seeing the new version.
Noldorin
@Noldorin: Nope I'm sorry I can't get it under the 327 characters of this (a bit enhanced since last) code. The gain from having everything perfectly parsed with the regex outweighs the insanely long name of "System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches"If F# would've had a short (aliased) name for the Matches function I would be at 288 chars, but it does not =/.
thr
@fredrikholmstrom: No worries - good solution nonetheless. Also, I'm not completely sure, but I would say that you should be able to move "System.Text.RegularExpressions" into an "open" statement and exclude the char count for that at least.
Noldorin
+2  A: 

Ruby

Number of characters: 302

Semi-obfuscated:

def e(l)
  t=0.0;o=nil
  while l!=''
    l.sub!(/^\s+/,'')
    l.sub!(/^(-?\d+|-?\d+\.\d+)/,'')
    t=o ? t.send(o, $1.to_f) : $1.to_f if $~
    l.sub!(/^(\+|-|\*|\/)/,'')
    o=$1 if $~
    l.sub!(/^\(/,'')
    t=o ? t.send(o, e(l)) : e(l) if $~
    l.sub!(/^\)/,'')
    return t if $~
  end
  t
end

Destroys original string, also assumes expression is well-formed (only valid characters, and matching brackets).

Not obfuscated:

def evaluate_expression(expression)
  result_so_far = 0.0
  last_operator = nil

  while (expression != '')
    # remove any leading whitespace
    expression.sub!(/^\s+/, '') 

    # extract and remove leading integer or decimal number
    expression.sub!(/^(-?\d+|-?\d+\.\d+)/, '')
    if $~
      # match was successful
      number = $1.to_f
      if last_operator.nil?
        # first number, just store it
        result_so_far = number
      else
        # we have an operator, use it!
        # last_operator is a string matching '+', '-', '*' or '/'
        # just invoke the method of that name on our result_so_far
        # since these operators are just method calls in Ruby
        result_so_far = result_so_far.send(last_operator, number)
       end
    end

    # extract and remove leading operator +-*/
    expression.sub!(/^(\+|-|\*|\/)/, '')
    if $~
      # match was successful
      last_operator = $1
    end

    # extract and remove leading open bracket
    l.sub!(/^\(/, '')
    if $~
      # match successful
      if last_operator.nil?
        # first element in the expression is an open bracket
        # so just evaluate its contents recursively
        result_so_far = evaluate_expression(expression)
      else
        # combine the content of the bracketing with the
        # result so far using the last_operator
        result_so_far.send(last_operator, evaluate_expression(expression))
      end
    end

    # extract and remove leading close bracket
    l.sub!(/^\)/, '')
    if $~
      # match successful
      # this must be the end of a recursive call so
      # return the result so far without consuming the rest
      # of the expression
      return result_so_far
    end
  end
  t
end

The recursive call is controlled by the modification of the expression string, which is a bit nasty, but it seems to work.

fd
Could you put in a readable version as well? I'm not entirely sure how yours works.
The Wicked Flea
+3  A: 

Python with regular expressions

Number of characters: 283

Fully obfuscated function:

import re
from operator import*
def c(e):
 O=dict(zip("+-/*()",(add,sub,truediv,mul)))
 a=[add,0];s=a
 for v,o in re.findall("(-?[.\d]+)|([+-/*()])",e):
  if v:s=[float(v)]+s
  elif o=="(":s=a+s
  elif o!=")":s=[O[o]]+s
  if v or o==")":s[:3]=[s[1](s[2],s[0])]
 return s[0]

Not obfuscated:

import re
from operator import *

def compute(s):
    operators = dict(zip("+-/*()", (add, sub, truediv, mul)))
    stack = [add, 0]
    for val, op in re.findall("(-?[.\d]+)|([+-/*()])", s):
        if val:
            stack = [float(val)] + stack
        elif op == "(":
            stack = [add, 0] + stack
        elif op != ")":
            stack = [operators[op]] + stack
        if val or op == ")":
            stack[:3] = [stack[1](stack[2], stack[0])]
    return stack[0]

I wanted to see if I cab beat the other Python solutions using regular expressions.

Couldn't.

The regular expression I'm using creates a list of pairs (val, op) where only one item in each pair is valid. The rest of the code is a rather standard stack based parser with a neat trick of replacing the top 3 cells in the stack with the result of the computation using Python list assignment syntax. Making this work with negative numbers required only two additional characters (-? in the regex).

gooli
You can save a couple of bytes by removing "()" from your operator string; `zip` stops at the end of the shorter list.
Ben Blank
@gooli: Are you using Windows? By my count, the posted solution is only 273. One explanation for this may be that you counted newlines as two characters each. (Python doesn't care if you have single-char newlines, even in Windows.) Another explanation is that hit 8 when you meant 7. ;)
John Y
+7  A: 

C# with Regex Love

Number of characters: 384

Fully-obfuscated:

float E(string i){i=i.Replace(" ","");Regex b=new Regex(@"\((?>[^()]+|\((?<D>)|\)(?<-D>))*(?(D)(?!))\)");i=b.Replace(i,m=>Eval(m.Value.Substring(1,m.Length-2)).ToString());float r=0;foreach(Match m in Regex.Matches(i,@"(?<=^|\D)-?[\d.]+")){float f=float.Parse(m.Value);if(m.Index==0)r=f;else{char o=i[m.Index-1];if(o=='+')r+=f;if(o=='-')r-=f;if(o=='*')r*=f;if(o=='/')r/=f;}}return r;}

Not-obfuscated:

private static float Eval(string input)
{
    input = input.Replace(" ", "");
    Regex balancedMatcher = new Regex(@"\(
                                            (?>
                                                [^()]+
                                            |
                                                \( (?<Depth>)
                                            |
                                                \) (?<-Depth>)
                                            )*
                                            (?(Depth)(?!))
                                        \)", RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace);
    input = balancedMatcher.Replace(input, m => Eval(m.Value.Substring(1, m.Length - 2)).ToString());

    float result = 0;

    foreach (Match m in Regex.Matches(input, @"(?<=^|\D)-?[\d.]+"))
    {
        float floatVal = float.Parse(m.Value);
        if (m.Index == 0)
        {
            result = floatVal;
        }
        else
        {
            char op = input[m.Index - 1];
            if (op == '+') result += floatVal;
            if (op == '-') result -= floatVal;
            if (op == '*') result *= floatVal;
            if (op == '/') result /= floatVal;
        }
    }

    return result;
}

Takes advantage of .NET's Regex balancing group feature.

Jeff Moser
Thanks for that solution. :) I wasn't sure whether I would see a C# solution with regex, but here we have it. Now, it's arguable whether you should include the "using System.Text.RegularExpressions;" in your char count, but it's a good solution nonetheless.
Noldorin
That wasn't part of the rules :). If you add "using R=System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex;" and replace my "Regex" with R, it goes to 417.
Jeff Moser
@Jeff: Well, technically it won't compile without the using statement, so by default it *should* be included. Petty point, however, given that our C# solutions are all significantly behind the leader.
Noldorin
Agreed. Just trying to have regex fun.
Jeff Moser
Yeah, regex for the win! :)
Noldorin
+1  A: 

F#

Number of characters: 461

Here is Marc Gravell's solution (essentially) converted from C# to F#. The char count is scarecly better, but I thought I'd post it anyway out of interest.

Obfuscated code:

let e x=
 let rec f(s:string)=
  let i=s.IndexOf(')')
  if i>0 then
   let j=s.LastIndexOf('(',i)
   f(s.Substring(0,j)+f(s.Substring(j+1,i-j-1))+s.Substring(i+1))
  else
   let o=[|'+';'-';'*';'/'|]
   let i=s.LastIndexOfAny(o)
   let j=s.IndexOfAny(o,max(i-2)0,2)
   let k=if j<0 then i else j
   if k<0 then s else
    let o=s.[k]
    string((if o='+'then(+)else if o='-'then(-)else if o='*'then(*)else(/))(float(f(s.Substring(0,k))))(float(s.Substring(k+1))))
 float(f x)
Noldorin
Yeah I tried something similar with F# yesterday but it both feels very "non F#" and is still more chars then my other solution ;(. Silly that F# has so horrible string handling.
thr
+3  A: 

Python

Number of characters: 382

Yet another Python solution, heavily using regular expression replacement. Each run through the loop the simplest expressions are computed and the results are put back into the string.

This is the unobfuscated code, unless you consider regular expressions to be obfuscated.

import re
from operator import *    
operators = dict(zip("+-/*", (add, sub, truediv, mul)))    
def compute(s):
    def repl(m):
        v1, op, v2 = m.groups()
        return str(operators[op](float(v1), float(v2)))
    while not re.match("^\d+\.\d+$", s):
        s = re.sub("([.\d]+)\s*([+-/*])\s*([.\d]+)", repl, s)
        s = re.sub("\(([.\d]+)\)", r"\1", s)
    return s

Had this idea just as I was turning in and couldn't let it go until I wrote it down and made it work.

gooli
Nice solution... Looks very clear to me, too. It would seem that using dict/zip to store the operators is definitely a very effective approach in Python.
Noldorin
A: 

Perl

Number of characters: 93

Fully obfuscated function: (93 characters if you join these three lines into one)

$_="(@ARGV)";s/\s//g;$n=qr/(-?\d+(\.\d+)?)/;
while(s.\($n\)|(?<=\()$n[-+*/]$n.eval$&.e){}
print

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

$_="(@ARGV)";            # Set the default var to "(" argument ")"
s/\s//g;                 # Strip all spaces from $_
$n=qr/(-?\d+(\.\d+)?)/;  # Compile a regex for "number"

# repeatedly replace the sequence "(" NUM ")" with NUM, or if there aren't
# any of those, replace "(" NUM OP NUM with the result
# of doing an eval on just the NUM OP NUM bit.
while(s{\($n\)|(?<=\()$n[-+*/]$n}{eval$&}e){}

# print $_
print

I think this is pretty well explained in the "clear" version. The two main insights are that you can make the code uniform by surrounding the argument with parentheses at the start (special cases cost characters), and that it is sufficient, albeit massively inefficient, to only process stuff right next to an open parenthesis, replacing it with its result.

It's probably easiest to run this code as:

perl -le '$_="(@ARGV)";s/\s//g;$n=qr/(-?\d+(\.\d+)?)/;while(s.\($n\)|(?<=\()$n[-+*/]$n.eval$&.e){}print' '4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8'
Daniel Martin
Interesting, but does the "eval" kinda break the rules?
gnovice
Ah, okay, it wasn't clear to me that "eval" was disallowed; I thought the description was saying that his "no BODMAS" rule was sufficient guard against that. Very well, I'll try another solution without 'eval'.
Daniel Martin
Yeah, sorry. The rules were to explicitly disallow "eval". It was just a suspicion that BODMAS *ought* to prevent against it, but not necessarily.
Noldorin
+18  A: 

Fortran 77 (gfortran dialect, now with g77 support)

Number of characters: 2059

Obfuscated version:

      function e(c)
      character*99 c
      character b
      real f(24)                
      integer i(24)             
      nf=0                      
      ni=0                      
 20   nf=kf(0.0,nf,f)
      ni=ki(43,ni,i)         
 30   if (isp(c).eq.1) goto 20
      h=fr(c)
 31   g=fp(nf,f)
      j=ip(ni,i)
      select case(j)
      case (40) 
         goto 20
      case (42)                 
         d=g*h
      case (43)                 
         d=g+h
      case (45)                 
         d=g-h
      case (47)                 
         d=g/h
      end select
 50   nf=kf(d,nf,f)
 60   j=nop(c)
      goto (20, 70, 75, 75, 60, 75, 60, 75) (j-39)
 65   e=fp(nf,f)
      return
 70   h=fp(nf,f)              
      goto 31
 75   ni=ki(j,ni,i)
      goto 30
      end
      function kf(v,n,f)
      real f(24)
      kf=n+1
      f(n+1)=v
      return
      end
      function ki(j,n,i)
      integer i(24)
      ki=n+1
      i(n+1)=j
      return
      end
      function fp(n,f)
      real f(24)
      fp=f(n)
      n=n-1
      return
      end
      function ip(n,i)
      integer i(24)
      ip=i(n)
      n=n-1
      return
      end
      function nop(s)
      character*99 s
      l=1
      do while(s(l:l).eq." ".and.l.lt.99)
         l=l+1
      enddo
      nop=ichar(s(l:l))
      s(l:l)=" "
      return
      end
      function isp(s)
      character*99 s
      isp=0
      l=1
      do while(s(l:l).eq." ".and.l.lt.99)
         l=l+1
      enddo
      isp=41-ichar(s(l:l))
      if (isp.eq.1) s(l:l)=" "
      return
      end
      function fr(s)
      character*99 s
      m=1                      
      n=1                      
      i=1
      do while(i.le.99)
         j=ichar(s(i:i))
         if (j.eq.32) goto 90   
         if (j.ge.48.and.j.lt.58) goto 89
         if (j.eq.43.or.j.eq.45) goto (89,80) m
         if (j.eq.46) goto (83,80) n
 80      exit
 83      n=2
 89      m=2
 90      i=i+1
      enddo
      read(s(1:i-1),*) fr
      do 91 j=1,i-1
         s(j:j)=" "
 91   continue
      return 
      end

Clear version: (3340 characters with scaffold)

      program infixeval
      character*99 c
      do while (.true.)
         do 10 i=1,99
            c(i:i)=" "
 10      continue
         read(*,"(A99)") c
         f=e(c)
         write(*,*)f
      enddo
      end

      function e(c)
      character*99 c
      character b
      real f(24)                ! value stack
      integer i(24)             ! operator stack
      nf=0                      ! number of items on the value stack
      ni=0                      ! number of items on the operator stack
 20   nf=pushf(0.0,nf,f)
      ni=pushi(43,ni,i)         ! ichar(+) = 43
D     write (*,*) "'",c,"'"
 30   if (isp(c).eq.1) goto 20
      h=fr(c)
D     write (*,*) "'",c,"'"
 31   g=fpop(nf,f)
      j=ipop(ni,i)
D     write(*,*) "Opperate ",g," ",char(j)," ",h
      select case(j)
      case (40) 
         goto 20
      case (42)                 ! "*" 
         d=g*h
      case (43)                 ! "+"
         d=g+h
      case (45)                 ! "-"
         d=g-h
      case (47)                 ! "*"
         d=g/h
      end select
 50   nf=pushf(d,nf,f)
 60   j=nop(c)
D     write(*,*) "Got op: ", char(j)
      goto (20, 70, 75, 75, 60, 75, 60, 75) (j-39)
 65   e=fpop(nf,f)
      return
 70   h=fpop(nf,f)              ! Encountered a "("
      goto 31
 75   ni=pushi(j,ni,i)
      goto 30
      end

c     push onto a real stack
c     OB as kf
      function pushf(v,n,f)
      real f(24)
      pushf=n+1
      f(n+1)=v
D     write(*,*) "Push ", v
      return
      end

c     push onto a integer stack
c     OB as ki
      function pushi(j,n,i)
      integer i(24)
      pushi=n+1
      i(n+1)=j
D     write(*,*) "Push ", char(j)
      return
      end

c     pop from real stack
c     OB as fp
      function fpop(n,f)
      real f(24)
      fpop=f(n)
      n=n-1
D      write (*,*) "Pop ", fpop
      return
      end

c     pop from integer stack
c     OB as ip
      function ipop(n,i)
      integer i(24)
      ipop=i(n)
      n=n-1
D      write (*,*) "Pop ", char(ipop)
      return
      end

c     Next OPerator: returns the next nonws character, and removes it
c     from the string
      function nop(s)
      character*99 s
      l=1
      do while(s(l:l).eq." ".and.l.lt.99)
         l=l+1
      enddo
      nop=ichar(s(l:l))
      s(l:l)=" "
      return
      end

c     IS an open Paren: return 1 if the next non-ws character is "("
c     (also overwrite it with a space. Otherwise return not 1
      function isp(s)
      character*99 s
      isp=0
      l=1
      do while(s(l:l).eq." ".and.l.lt.99)
         l=l+1
      enddo
      isp=41-ichar(s(l:l))
      if (isp.eq.1) s(l:l)=" "
      return
      end

c     Float Read: return the next real number in the string and removes the
c     character
      function fr(s)
      character*99 s
      m=1                      ! No sign (Minus or plus) so far
      n=1                      ! No decimal so far
      i=1
      do while(i.le.99)
         j=ichar(s(i:i))
         if (j.eq.32) goto 90   ! skip spaces
         if (j.ge.48.and.j.lt.58) goto 89
         if (j.eq.43.or.j.eq.45) goto (89,80) m
         if (j.eq.46) goto (83,80) n
c     not part of a number
 80      exit
 83      n=2
 89      m=2
 90      i=i+1
      enddo
      read(s(1:i-1),*) fr
      do 91 j=1,i-1
         s(j:j)=" "
 91   continue
      return 
      end

Notes This edited version is rather more evil than my first attempt. Same algorithm, but now inline with a horrible tangle of gotos. I've ditched the co-routines, but am now using a couple of flavors of computed branches. All error checking and reporting has been removed, but this version will silently recover from some classes of unexpected characters in the input. This version also compiles with g77.

The primary limits are still fortran's rigid formatting, long and ubiquitous keywords, and simple primitives.

dmckee
Good God, man! You must have been bored today. ;)
gnovice
Hehe, I don't think I was ever expecting a Fortran solution! I think we can conclude that the language isn't particularly well-suited to code golf? Up-voted anyway for the sheer effort and for using an antiquated language. :)
Noldorin
I find this kind of fiddly byte diddling to be wordy and awkward in fortran, but not actually hard. Writing unstructured code and using those computed branches, on the other hand, feels kinda kinky.
dmckee
Nicely done, but how does a 2000+ character fortran version get more votes than my short little ruby1.9 version? lol
Daniel Huckstep
@darkhelmet: I have no idea. I did it on a lark and expected one or two votes for effort and perversity. I am obscenely proud of this abomination, but this is ridiculous...
dmckee
+31  A: 

Perl (no eval)

Number of characters: 167 106 (see below for the 106 character version)

Fully obfuscated function: (167 characters if you join these three lines into one)

sub e{my$_="($_[0])";s/\s//g;$n=q"(-?\d++(\.\d+)?+)";
@a=(sub{$1},1,sub{$3*$6},sub{$3+$6},4,sub{$3-$6},6,sub{$3/$6});
while(s:\($n\)|(?<=\()$n(.)$n:$a[7&ord$5]():e){}$_}

Clear/deobfuscated version:

sub e {
  my $_ = "($_[0])";
  s/\s//g;
  $n=q"(-?\d++(\.\d+)?+)"; # a regex for "number", including capturing groups
                           # q"foo" in perl means the same as 'foo'
                           # Note the use of ++ and ?+ to tell perl
                           # "no backtracking"

  @a=(sub{$1},             # 0 - no operator found
      1,                   # placeholder
      sub{$3*$6},          # 2 - ord('*') = 052
      sub{$3+$6},          # 3 - ord('+') = 053
      4,                   # placeholder
      sub{$3-$6},          # 5 - ord('-') = 055
      6,                   # placeholder
      sub{$3/$6});         # 7 - ord('/') = 057

  # The (?<=... bit means "find a NUM WHATEVER NUM sequence that happens
  # immediately after a left paren", without including the left
  # paren.  The while loop repeatedly replaces "(" NUM WHATEVER NUM with
  # "(" RESULT and "(" NUM ")" with NUM.  The while loop keeps going
  # so long as those replacements can be made.

  while(s:\($n\)|(?<=\()$n(.)$n:$a[7&ord$5]():e){}

  # A perl function returns the value of the last statement
  $_
}

I had misread the rules initially, so I'd submitted a version with "eval". Here's a version without it.

The latest bit of insight came when I realized that the last octal digit in the character codes for +, -, /, and * is different, and that ord(undef) is 0. This lets me set up the dispatch table @a as an array, and just invoke the code at the location 7 & ord($3).

There's an obvious spot to shave off one more character - change q"" into '' - but that would make it harder to cut-and-paste into the shell.

Even shorter

Number of characters: 124 106

Taking edits by ephemient into account, it's now down to 124 characters: (join the two lines into one)

sub e{$_=$_[0];s/\s//g;$n=q"(-?\d++(\.\d+)?+)";
1while s:\($n\)|$n(.)$n:($1,1,$3*$6,$3+$6,4,$3-$6,6,$6&&$3/$6)[7&ord$5]:e;$_}

Shorter still

Number of characters: 110 106

The ruby solution down below is pushing me further, though I can't reach its 104 characters:

sub e{($_)=@_;$n='( *-?[.\d]++ *)';
s:\($n\)|$n(.)$n:(($1,$2-$4,$4&&$2/$4,$2*$4,$2+$4)x9)[.8*ord$3]:e?e($_):$_}

I had to give in and use ''. That ruby send trick is really useful for this problem.

Squeezing water from a stone

Number of characters: 106

A small contortion to avoid the divide-by-zero check.

sub e{($_)=@_;$n='( *-?[.\d]++ *)';
s:\($n\)|$n(.)$n:($1,0,$2*$4,$2+$4,0,$2-$4)[7&ord$3]//$2/$4:e?e($_):$_}

Here's the test harness for this function:

perl -le 'sub e{($_)=@_;$n='\''( *-?[.\d]++ *)'\'';s:\($n\)|$n(.)$n:($1,0,$2*$4,$2+$4,0,$2-$4)[7&ord$3]//$2/$4:e?e($_):$_}' -e 'print e($_) for @ARGV' '1 + 3' '1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)' '4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8' '2*3*4*5+99' '2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023) ' '1 + 3 / -8'
Daniel Martin
That's craziness. I suppose the the original code golf language ought to have beaten them all here, and indeed it has. I can't say I much like the abundance of regex, but good job! I might just have to accept this as answer...
Noldorin
thats crafty using ord. I like how you've used $n as a way to duplicate a section of the regular expression.
Ape-inago
Is there a reason you use "local" when "my" should work just as well?
Chris Lutz
@Chris Lutz: No, so I changed it and lost three more characters. Just the force of powerful habit telling me to use "local" with global variables.
Daniel Martin
Ugh... in my edit, qw// was supposed to be qr//. Since that (accidentally) works, you could shave another 2 characters off by replacing it with ''.
ephemient
In fact, ephemient, I was already doing that (using q""). But nice trick to avoid all the "sub" noise.
Daniel Martin
That's impressive - you shaved it down AND added in divide-by-zero protection. I was going to suggest using "1 while" instead of "while(){}", but I didn't know that 1while (without the space) would parse correctly, so it didn't save any space. Glad it works.
Chris Lutz
It's pretty scary how small Perl can go, I edited my answer to keep it the smallest Ruby implementation and ran out of room at 170 chars. But 124? Good gravy!
The Wicked Flea
I didn't notice that nobody has mentioned it yet, but this solution requires Perl 5.10. For compatibility with 5.8, use (-?(?>\d+(\.\d+)?)) which is two characters longer.
ephemient
perl. is. sick.
Epaga
@Epaga, don't worry I got your typo: perl. is. awesome.
Danny
Shorten it by 1 character - change "$_=$_[0]" to "($_)=@_".
Chris Lutz
Do you really need to check for division by zero? Most of the solutions (including mine) do not.
finnw
Because it unconditionally performs the arithmetic regardless of the operator (picking the correct result later), it does need to avoid dividing by zero.
ephemient
Used another Perl 5.10 trick to cut the character count a little more, but geez, this is getting really tough. Getting to 103 will not be easy.
ephemient
Dare I tempt you to break 100? :P No really, please don't spend any more time on it unless you absolutely want to (for yourself)! It's a great solution as it is - certainly good enough for me.
Noldorin
It's more like a stubborn refusal to believe that Perl could be permanently beaten by its younger cousin Ruby, but yeah, it's not really a productive use of time...
ephemient
I found a way to make it shorter, but it doesn't work. Negative array indices in Perl wrap once, but if they wrap past the end of the array, they don't keep wrapping. Otherwise, I could have had it to 105. (It lined up perfectly, too, which is really bothering me - if it kept wrapping, element -42 would have ended up as index 2, and it would have worked perfectly.)
Chris Lutz
+4  A: 

Python

Number of characters: 235

Fully obfuscated function:

def g(a):
 i=len(a)
 while i:
  try:m=g(a[i+1:]);n=g(a[:i]);a=str({'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/(m or 1)}[a[i]])
  except:i-=1;j=a.rfind('(')+1
  if j:k=a.find(')',j);a=a[:j-1]+str(g(a[j:k]))+a[k+1:]
 return float(a.replace('--',''))

Semi-obfuscated:

def g(a):
    i=len(a);
    # do the math
    while i:
        try:
            # recursively evaluate left and right
            m=g(a[i+1:])
            n=g(a[:i])
            # try to do the math assuming that a[i] is an operator
            a=str({'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/(m or 1)}[a[i]])
        except:
            # failure -> next try
            i-=1
            j=a.rfind('(')+1
        # replace brackets in parallel (this part is executed first)
        if j:
            k=a.find(')',j)
            a=a[:j-1]+str(g(a[j:k]))+a[k+1:]
    return float(a.replace('--',''))

FWIW, the n+1th Python solution. In a blatant abuse of try-except I use a trial-and-error approach. It should handle all cases properly including stuff like -(8), --8 and g('-(1 - 3)'). It is re-entrant. Without support for the -- case which many implementations don't support, it is at 217 chars (see previous revision).

Thanks for an interesting hour on a Sunday and another 30 mins on Monday. Thanks to krubo for his nice dict.

stephan
Another interesting approach... Identical in length to one of the other Python solutions, too. This confirms my view that using a dictionary of operators is the way to go, where possible. I wanted to do something similar in C#, but the syntax simply takes up too many chars.
Noldorin
+5  A: 

Ruby

Number of characters: 170

Obfuscated:

def s(x)
while x.sub!(/\(([^\(\)]*?)\)/){s($1)}
x.gsub!('--','')
end
while x.sub!(/(-?[\d.]+)[ ]*([+\-*\/])[ ]*(-?[\d.]+)/){$1.to_f.send($2,$3.to_f)}
end
x.strip.to_f
end

Readable:

def s(x)
while x.sub!(/\(([^\(\)]*?)\)/){s($1)}
x.gsub!('--','')
end
while x.sub!(/(-?[\d.]+)[ ]*([+\-*\/])[ ]*(-?[\d.]+)/){$1.to_f.send($2,$3.to_f)}
end
x.strip.to_f
end

[
  ['1 + 3 / -8', -0.5],
  ['2*3*4*5+99', 219],
  ['4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8', 10],
  ['1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)', 4],
  ['2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)',2.68344117647059],
  ['(3+7) - (5+2)', 3]
].each do |pair|
  a,b = s(String.new(pair[0])),pair[1]
  print pair[0].ljust(25), ' = ', b, ' (', a==b, ')'
  puts
end

There is no real obfuscation to this one, which I decided to post fresh since it's wildly different from my first. I should have seen this from the start. The process is a very simple process of elimination: find and resolve the highest pair of parenthesis (the most nested) into a number until no more are found, then resolve all the existing numbers and operations into the result. And, while resolving parenthetical statements I have it strip all double-dashes (Float.to_f doesn't know what to do with them).

So, it supports positive and negative numbers (+3, 3, & -3) and even negated sub-expressions within the parenthesis just by the order of processing. The only shorter implementation is the Perl (w/o eval) one.

Edit: I'm still chasing Perl, but this is the second smallest answer right now. I shrunk it with changes to the second regex and by changing the treatment of the string to be destructive (replaces the old string). This eliminated the need to duplicate the string, which I found out to just be a new pointer to the string. And renaming the function to s from solve saved a few characters.

The Wicked Flea
Nice work, surprised I didn't try this approach myself, since I used something very similar to solve another parsing question.
fd
See my solution for a way to compress that regexp. You shouldn't need the final 'strip' either. And it doesn't look as though you fully implement unary minus, so you get little benefit from the gsub('--','').
finnw
I cannot actually shorten my particular algorithm or I fail 3-4 of the tests, I'm not certain why. I could shrink it by maybe 20 characters though.
The Wicked Flea
+5  A: 

Python (without importing anything)

Number of characters: 222

I stole many tricks from Dave's answer, but I managed to shave off some more characters.

def e(s,l=0,n=0,f='+'):
 if s:l=[c for c in s+')'if' '!=c]
 while f!=')':
  p=l.pop;m=p(0)
  if m=='(':m=e(0,l)
  while l[0]not in'+-*/)':m+=p(0)
  m=float(m);n={'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/(m or 1)}[f];f=p(0)
 return n

Commented version:

def evaluate(stringexpr, listexpr=0, n=0, f_operation='+'):
    # start out as taking 0 + the expression... (or could use 1 * ;)

    # We'll prefer to keep the expression as a list of characters,
    # so we can use .pop(0) to eat up the expression as we go.
    if stringexpr:
        listexpr = [c for c in stringexpr+')' if c!=' ']

    # use ')' as sentinel to return the answer
    while f_operation != ')':
        m_next = listexpr.pop(0)
        if m_next == '(':
            # lists are passed by reference, so this call will eat the (parexp)
            m_next = evaluate(None, listexpr)

        else:
            # rebuild any upcoming numeric chars into a string
            while listexpr[0] not in '+-*/)':
                m_next += listexpr.pop(0)

        # Update n as the current answer.  But never divide by 0.
        m = float(m_next)
        n = {'+':n+m, '-':n-m, '*':n*m, '/':n/(m or 1)}[f_operation]

        # prepare the next operation (known to be one of '+-*/)')
        f_operation = listexpr.pop(0)

    return n
+1 Nice dict idea. The current version fails on e('1+0'), however. Use {'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/m if m else 1} instead. I have borrowed your idea (with this amendment). Thanks
stephan
Thanks. I hadn't thought of the DivZero problem; a 7-character fix is n/(m or 1).
Will do this for my program, too ;-)
stephan
hehe, don't change anything now, the number of characters is beautiful :)
Tetha
+6  A: 

J

Number of characters: 208

After Jeff Moser's comment, I realized that I had completely forgotten about this language... I'm no expert, but my first attempt went rather well.

e=:>@{:@f@;:
f=:''&(4 :0)
'y x'=.x g y
while.($y)*-.')'={.>{.y do.'y x'=.(x,>(-.'/'={.>{.y){('%';y))g}.y end.y;x
)
g=:4 :0
z=.>{.y
if.z='('do.'y z'=.f}.y else.if.z='-'do.z=.'_',>{.}.y end.end.(}.y);":".x,z
)

It's a bit annoying, having to map x/y and -z into J's x%y and _z. Without that, maybe 50% of this code could disappear.

ephemient
Yeah, that's pretty nice. Now what about a solution in K? :P I'm suspecting that might even be able to beat Perl.
Noldorin
Woohoo, I managed to get my Haskell solution under my J solution! Though if somebody here were a J or K or APL wizard, they'd probably destroy the 200-character barrier...
ephemient
+24  A: 

Visual Basic.NET

Number of characters: 9759

I'm more of a bowler myself.

NOTE: does not take nested parentheses into account. Also, untested, but I'm pretty sure it works.

Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Public Class Main
Public Shared Function DoArithmaticFunctionFromStringInput(ByVal MathematicalString As String) As Double
 Dim numberList As New List(Of Number)
 Dim operationsList As New List(Of IOperatable)
 Dim currentNumber As New Number
 Dim currentParentheticalStatement As New Parenthetical
 Dim isInParentheticalMode As Boolean = False
 Dim allCharactersInString() As Char = MathematicalString.ToCharArray
 For Each mathChar In allCharactersInString
  If mathChar = Number.ZERO_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.ONE_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.TWO_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.THREE_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.FOUR_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.FIVE_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.SIX_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.SEVEN_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.EIGHT_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.NINE_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.DECIMAL_POINT_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
  ElseIf mathChar = Addition.ADDITION_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   Dim addition As New Addition

   If Not isInParentheticalMode Then
    operationsList.Add(addition)
    numberList.Add(currentNumber)
   Else
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllNumbers.Add(currentNumber)
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllOperators.Add(addition)
   End If

   currentNumber = New Number
  ElseIf mathChar = Number.NEGATIVE_NUMBER_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   If currentNumber.StringOfNumbers.Length > 0 Then
    currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)

    Dim subtraction As New Addition
    If Not isInParentheticalMode Then
     operationsList.Add(subtraction)
     numberList.Add(currentNumber)
    Else
     currentParentheticalStatement.AllNumbers.Add(currentNumber)
     currentParentheticalStatement.AllOperators.Add(subtraction)
    End If

    currentNumber = New Number
   Else
    currentNumber.UpdateNumber(mathChar)
   End If
  ElseIf mathChar = Multiplication.MULTIPLICATION_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   Dim multiplication As New Multiplication

   If Not isInParentheticalMode Then
    operationsList.Add(multiplication)
    numberList.Add(currentNumber)
   Else
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllNumbers.Add(currentNumber)
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllOperators.Add(multiplication)
   End If
   currentNumber = New Number
  ElseIf mathChar = Division.DIVISION_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   Dim division As New Division

   If Not isInParentheticalMode Then
    operationsList.Add(division)
    numberList.Add(currentNumber)
   Else
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllNumbers.Add(currentNumber)
    currentParentheticalStatement.AllOperators.Add(division)
   End If
   currentNumber = New Number
  ElseIf mathChar = Parenthetical.LEFT_PARENTHESIS_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   isInParentheticalMode = True
  ElseIf mathChar = Parenthetical.RIGHT_PARENTHESIS_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   currentNumber = currentParentheticalStatement.EvaluateParentheticalStatement
   numberList.Add(currentNumber)
   isInParentheticalMode = False
  End If
 Next

 Dim result As Double = 0
 Dim operationIndex As Integer = 0
 For Each numberOnWhichToPerformOperations As Number In numberList
  result = operationsList(operationIndex).PerformOperation(result, numberOnWhichToPerformOperations)
  operationIndex = operationIndex + 1
 Next

 Return result

End Function
Public Class Number
 Public Const DECIMAL_POINT_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "."
 Public Const NEGATIVE_NUMBER_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "-"
 Public Const ZERO_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "0"
 Public Const ONE_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "1"
 Public Const TWO_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "2"
 Public Const THREE_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "3"
 Public Const FOUR_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "4"
 Public Const FIVE_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "5"
 Public Const SIX_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "6"
 Public Const SEVEN_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "7"
 Public Const EIGHT_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "8"
 Public Const NINE_STRING_REPRESENTATION As Char = "9"

 Private _isNegative As Boolean
 Public ReadOnly Property IsNegative() As Boolean
  Get
   Return _isNegative
  End Get
 End Property
 Public ReadOnly Property ActualNumber() As Double
  Get
   Dim result As String = ""
   If HasDecimal Then
    If DecimalIndex = StringOfNumbers.Length - 1 Then
     result = StringOfNumbers.ToString
    Else
     result = StringOfNumbers.Insert(DecimalIndex, DECIMAL_POINT_STRING_REPRESENTATION).ToString
    End If
   Else
    result = StringOfNumbers.ToString
   End If
   If IsNegative Then
    result = NEGATIVE_NUMBER_STRING_REPRESENTATION & result
   End If
   Return CType(result, Double)
  End Get
 End Property
 Private _hasDecimal As Boolean
 Public ReadOnly Property HasDecimal() As Boolean
  Get
   Return _hasDecimal
  End Get
 End Property
 Private _decimalIndex As Integer
 Public ReadOnly Property DecimalIndex() As Integer
  Get
   Return _decimalIndex
  End Get
 End Property
 Private _stringOfNumbers As New StringBuilder
 Public ReadOnly Property StringOfNumbers() As StringBuilder
  Get
   Return _stringOfNumbers
  End Get
 End Property
 Public Sub UpdateNumber(ByVal theDigitToAppend As Char)
  If IsNumeric(theDigitToAppend) Then
   Me._stringOfNumbers.Append(theDigitToAppend)
  ElseIf theDigitToAppend = DECIMAL_POINT_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   Me._hasDecimal = True
   Me._decimalIndex = Me._stringOfNumbers.Length
  ElseIf theDigitToAppend = NEGATIVE_NUMBER_STRING_REPRESENTATION Then
   Me._isNegative = Not Me._isNegative
  End If
 End Sub
 Public Shared Function ConvertDoubleToNumber(ByVal numberThatIsADouble As Double) As Number
  Dim numberResult As New Number
  For Each character As Char In numberThatIsADouble.ToString.ToCharArray
   numberResult.UpdateNumber(character)
  Next
  Return numberResult
 End Function
End Class
Public MustInherit Class Operation
 Protected _firstnumber As New Number
 Protected _secondnumber As New Number
 Public Property FirstNumber() As Number
  Get
   Return _firstnumber
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As Number)
   _firstnumber = value
  End Set
 End Property
 Public Property SecondNumber() As Number
  Get
   Return _secondnumber
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As Number)
   _secondnumber = value
  End Set
 End Property
End Class
Public Interface IOperatable
 Function PerformOperation(ByVal number1 As Double, ByVal number2 As Number) As Double
End Interface
Public Class Addition
 Inherits Operation
 Implements IOperatable
 Public Const ADDITION_STRING_REPRESENTATION As String = "+"
 Public Sub New()

 End Sub
 Public Function PerformOperation(ByVal number1 As Double, ByVal number2 As Number) As Double Implements IOperatable.PerformOperation
  Dim result As Double = 0
  result = number1 + number2.ActualNumber
  Return result
 End Function
End Class
Public Class Multiplication
 Inherits Operation
 Implements IOperatable
 Public Const MULTIPLICATION_STRING_REPRESENTATION As String = "*"
 Public Sub New()

 End Sub
 Public Function PerformOperation(ByVal number1 As Double, ByVal number2 As Number) As Double Implements IOperatable.PerformOperation
  Dim result As Double = 0
  result = number1 * number2.ActualNumber
  Return result
 End Function
End Class
Public Class Division
 Inherits Operation
 Implements IOperatable
 Public Const DIVISION_STRING_REPRESENTATION As String = "/"
 Public Const DIVIDE_BY_ZERO_ERROR_MESSAGE As String = "I took a lot of time to write this program. Please don't be a child and try to defile it by dividing by zero. Nobody thinks you are funny."
 Public Sub New()

 End Sub
 Public Function PerformOperation(ByVal number1 As Double, ByVal number2 As Number) As Double Implements IOperatable.PerformOperation
  If Not number2.ActualNumber = 0 Then
   Dim result As Double = 0
   result = number1 / number2.ActualNumber
   Return result
  Else
   Dim divideByZeroException As New Exception(DIVIDE_BY_ZERO_ERROR_MESSAGE)
   Throw divideByZeroException
  End If
 End Function
End Class
Public Class Parenthetical
 Public Const LEFT_PARENTHESIS_STRING_REPRESENTATION As String = "("
 Public Const RIGHT_PARENTHESIS_STRING_REPRESENTATION As String = ")"
 Private _allNumbers As New List(Of Number)
 Public Property AllNumbers() As List(Of Number)
  Get
   Return _allNumbers
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As List(Of Number))
   _allNumbers = value
  End Set
 End Property
 Private _allOperators As New List(Of IOperatable)
 Public Property AllOperators() As List(Of IOperatable)
  Get
   Return _allOperators
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As List(Of IOperatable))
   _allOperators = value
  End Set
 End Property
 Public Sub New()

 End Sub
 Public Function EvaluateParentheticalStatement() As Number
  Dim result As Double = 0
  Dim operationIndex As Integer = 0
  For Each numberOnWhichToPerformOperations As Number In AllNumbers
   result = AllOperators(operationIndex).PerformOperation(result, numberOnWhichToPerformOperations)
   operationIndex = operationIndex + 1
  Next

  Dim numberToReturn As New Number
  numberToReturn = Number.ConvertDoubleToNumber(result)
  Return numberToReturn
 End Function
End Class
End Class
Jason
I also probably could have hit 10k characters if it weren't so late at night :)
Jason
Do you know less characters is better? This way they never think vb.net is any good.
Ikke
@ikke - it was supposed to be as FEW characters as possible? oh dear... someone seems to have missed the point
Jason
LOL - this reminds me of a few VB programs I've worked with
finnw
My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
Jon Tackabury
ZERO_STRING_REPRESENTATION looks like something that belongs on thedailywtf
erikkallen
@lkke - I think that is the point. See comment from finnw.
phkahler
+1 this made me laugh more than any other answer on SO. **ever**.
R..
+5  A: 

Here comes another one:

Shell script (using sed+awk)

Number of characters: 295

obfuscated:

e(){ a="$1";while echo "$a"|grep -q \(;do eval "`echo "$a"|sed 's/\(.*\)(\([^()]*\))\(.*\)/a="\1\`e \"\2\"\`\3"/'`";done; echo "$a"|sed 's/\([-+*/]\) *\(-\?\) */ \1 \2/g'|awk '{t=$1;for(i=2;i<NF;i+=2){j=$(i+1);if($i=="+") t+=j; else if($i=="-") t-=j; else if($i=="*") t*=j; else t/=j}print t}';}

readable

e () {
    a="$1"
    # Recursively process bracket-expressions
    while echo "$a"|grep -q \(; do
        eval "`echo "$a"|
            sed 's/\(.*\)(\([^()]*\))\(.*\)/a="\1\`e \"\2\"\`\3"/'`"
    done
    # Compute expression without brackets
    echo "$a"|
        sed 's/\([-+*/]\) *\(-\?\) */ \1 \2/g'|
        awk '{
            t=$1;
            for(i=2;i<NF;i+=2){
                j=$(i+1);
                if($i=="+") t+=j;
                else if($i=="-") t-=j;
                else if($i=="*") t*=j;
                else t/=j
            }
            print t
        }'
}

Test:

str='  2.45 / 8.5  *  9.27   +    (   5   *  0.0023  ) '
echo "$str"|bc -l
e "$str"

Result:

2.68344117647058823526
2.68344
soulmerge
I have (almost) no idea how this works, but I am amazed how well a shell script does at this task! Well done indeed.
Noldorin
Well, just remember that many many operating systems use that language/tool mix for many many different tasks :)
soulmerge
+1  A: 

Java

Number of Characters: 376

Updated version, now with more ? operator abuse!

Fully obfuscated solution:

static double e(String t){t="("+t+")";for(String s:new String[]{"+","-","*","/","(",")"})t=t.replace(s," "+s+" ");return f(new Scanner(t));}static double f(Scanner s){s.next();double a,v=s.hasNextDouble()?s.nextDouble():f(s);while(s.hasNext("[^)]")){char o=s.next().charAt(0);a=s.hasNextDouble()?s.nextDouble():f(s);v=o=='+'?v+a:o=='-'?v-a:o=='*'?v*a:v/a;}s.next();return v;}

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

static double evaluate(String text) {
 text = "(" + text + ")";
 for (String s : new String[] {"+", "-", "*", "/", "(", ")" }) {
  text = text.replace(s, " " + s + " ");
 }
 return innerEval(new Scanner(text));
}

static double innerEval(Scanner s) {
 s.next();
 double arg, val = s.hasNextDouble() ? s.nextDouble() : innerEval(s);
 while (s.hasNext("[^)]")) {
  char op = s.next().charAt(0);
  arg = s.hasNextDouble() ? s.nextDouble() : innerEval(s);
  val =
   op == '+' ? val + arg :
   op == '-' ? val - arg :
   op == '*' ? val * arg :
   val / arg;
 }
 s.next();
 return val;
}
Zarkonnen
A: 

I'm surprised nobody did it in Lex / Yacc or equivalent.

That would seem to yield the shortest source code that was also readable / maintainable.

Mike Dunlavey
I was about to do it with ANTLR, but it was larger that you could think in first instance xD
fortran
Lex/Yacc is good for writing real parsers, but if your requirements are simple enough, you can do it better (smaller) without.
Chris Lutz
@Chris: I'm inclined to agree, but I thought somebody might have tried it.
Mike Dunlavey
I might try it, but I've currently got a plain C solution down to 209 characters. Getting there.
Chris Lutz
+4  A: 

Ruby

Number of characters: 217 179

This is the shortest ruby solution up to now (one heavily based on RegExp yields incorrect answers when string contains few groups of parenthesis) -- no longer true. Solutions based on regex and substitution are shorter. This one is based on stack of accumulators and parses whole expression from left to right. It is re-entrant, and does not modify input string. It could be accused of breaking the rules of not using eval, as it calls Float's methods with identical names as their mathematical mnemonics (+,-,/,*).

Obfuscated code (old version, tweaked below):

def f(p);a,o=[0],['+']
p.sub(/-/,'+-').scan(/(?:(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?)|(.))\s*/).each{|n|
q,w=n;case w;when'(';a<<0;o<<'+';when')';q=a.pop;else;o<<w
end if q.nil?;a[-1]=a[-1].method(o.pop).call(q.to_f) if !q.nil?};a[0];end

More obfuscated code:

def f(p);a,o=[0],[:+]
p.scan(/(?:(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?)|(.))\s*/).each{|n|q,w=n;case w
when'(';a<<0;o<<:+;when')';q=a.pop;else;o<<w;end if !q
a<<a.pop.send(o.pop,q.to_f)if q};a[0];end

Clean code:

def f(p)
  accumulators, operands = [0], ['+']
  p.gsub(/-/,'+-').scan(/(?:(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?)|(.))\s*/).each do |n|
    number, operand = n
    case operand
      when '('
        accumulators << 0
        operands << '+'
      when ')'
        number = accumulators.pop
        operands.pop
      else 
        operands[-1] = operand
    end if number.nil?
    accumulators[-1] = accumulators.last.method(operands[-1]).call(number.to_f) unless number.nil?
  end
  accumulators.first
end
samuil
Actually, mine is shorter (198) and uses regex to solve parenthesis from the top down before the final result of the mathematics. So "3 + (3 * (3 + 9))" goes: "3 + (3 * 12)", "3 + 36", 39. It goes top-to-bottom, left-to-right. It solves all tests, except one minor oversight which requires spaces between tokens. See: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/928563/code-golf-evaluating-mathematical-expressions/932627#932627
The Wicked Flea
Not that yours isn't clever, it very much is.
The Wicked Flea
(3+7) - (5+2) -- that's what I've meant by several parentheses groups. Your solution has problem with non-nested parentheses, because of regex greediness.
samuil
That may be, but I had been fiddling around with my parser yesterday night and improved it on my system (with mathematical functions and single letter variables). So I pulled my better regex from it and it works just fine, the post is updated with a new char count too. ;-) I'll roll in your equation into the tests in the answer momentarily.
The Wicked Flea
I don't think the use of 'method' or 'send' is cheating - it's just a table lookup - you are not using the built-in parser.
finnw
+3  A: 

MATLAB (v7.8.0)

Number of characters: 239

Obfuscated function:

function [v,s]=m(s),r=1;while s,s=regexp(s,'( ?)(?(1)-?)[\.\d]+|\S','match');c=s{end};s=[s{1:end-1}];if any(c>47),v=str2num(c);elseif c>41,[l,s]=m(s);v=[l/v l*v l+v l-v];v=v(c=='/*+-');if r,break;end;r=1;elseif c<41,break;end;r=r&c~=41;end

Clear(er) function:

function [value,str] = math(str)
  returnNow = 1;
  while str,
    str = regexp(str,'( ?)(?(1)-?)[\.\d]+|\S','match');
    current = str{end};
    str = [str{1:end-1}];
    if any(current > 47),
      value = str2num(current);
    elseif current > 41,
      [leftValue,str] = math(str);
      value = [leftValue/value leftValue*value ...
               leftValue+value leftValue-value];
      value = value(current == '/*+-');
      if returnNow,
        break;
      end;
      returnNow = 1;
    elseif current < 41,
      break;
    end;
    returnNow = returnNow & (c ~= 41);
  end

Test:

>> [math('1 + 3 / -8'); ...
math('2*3*4*5+99'); ...
math('4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8'); ...
math('1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)'); ...
math('2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)')]

ans =

   -0.5000
  219.0000
   10.0000
    4.0000
    2.6834

Synopsis: A mixture of regular expressions and recursion. Pretty much the best I have been able to do so far, without cheating and using EVAL.

gnovice
+32  A: 

Assembler

427 bytes

Obfuscated, assembled with the excellent A86 into a .com executable:

dd 0db9b1f89h, 081bee3h, 0e8af789h, 0d9080080h, 0bdac7674h, 013b40286h
dd 07400463ah, 0ccfe4508h, 08ce9f675h, 02fc8000h, 013b0057eh, 0feaac42ah
dd 0bedf75c9h, 0ba680081h, 04de801h, 04874f73bh, 04474103ch, 0e8e8b60fh
dd 08e8a003fh, 0e880290h, 0de0153h, 08b57e6ebh, 0d902a93eh, 046d891dh
dd 08906c783h, 05f02a93eh, 03cffcee8h, 057197510h, 02a93e8bh, 08b06ef83h
dd 05d9046dh, 02a93e89h, 03bc9d95fh, 0ac0174f7h, 074f73bc3h, 0f3cac24h
dd 0eed9c474h, 0197f0b3ch, 07cc4940fh, 074f73b09h, 0103cac09h, 0a3ce274h
dd 0e40a537eh, 0e0d90274h, 02a3bac3h, 021cd09b4h, 03e8b20cdh, 0ff8102a9h
dd 0ed7502abh, 0474103ch, 0e57d0b3ch, 0be02a3bfh, 014d903a3h, 0800344f6h
dd 02db00574h, 0d9e0d9aah, 0d9029f2eh, 0bb34dfc0h, 08a0009h, 01c75f0a8h
dd 020750fa8h, 0b0f3794bh, 021e9aa30h, 0de607400h, 08802990eh, 0de07df07h
dd 0c392ebc1h, 0e8c0008ah, 0aa300404h, 0f24008ah, 04baa3004h, 02eb0ee79h
dd 03005c6aah, 0c0d90ab1h, 0e9defcd9h, 02a116deh, 0e480e0dfh, 040fc8045h
dd 0ede1274h, 0c0d90299h, 015dffcd9h, 047300580h, 0de75c9feh, 0303d804fh
dd 03d80fa74h, 04f01752eh, 0240145c6h, 0dfff52e9h, 0d9029906h, 0f73b025fh
dd 03caca174h, 07fed740ah, 0df07889ah, 0277d807h, 047d9c1deh, 0990ede02h
dd 025fd902h, 03130e0ebh, 035343332h, 039383736h, 02f2b2d2eh, 02029282ah
dd 0e9000a09h, 07fc9f9c1h, 04500000fh, 0726f7272h
db 024h, 0abh, 02h

EDIT: Unobfuscated source:

  mov [bx],bx
  finit
  mov si,81h
  mov di,si
  mov cl,[80h]
  or cl,bl
  jz ret
 l1:
  lodsb
  mov bp,d1
  mov ah,19
 l2:
  cmp al,[bp]
  je l3
  inc bp
  dec ah
  jne l2
  jmp exit
 l3:
  cmp ah,2
  jle l4
  mov al,19
  sub al,ah
  stosb
 l4:
  dec cl
  jnz l1
  mov si,81h
  push done

 decode:
 l5:
  call l7
 l50:
  cmp si,di
  je ret
  cmp al,16
  je ret
  db 0fh, 0b6h, 0e8h ; movzx bp,al
  call l7
  mov cl,[bp+op-11]
  mov byte ptr [sm1],cl
  db 0deh
 sm1:db ?
  jmp l50

 open:
  push di
  mov di,word ptr [s]
  fstp dword ptr [di]
  mov [di+4],bp
  add di,6
  mov word ptr [s],di
  pop di
  call decode
  cmp al,16
  jne ret
  push di
  mov di,word ptr [s]
  sub di,6
  mov bp,[di+4]
  fld dword ptr [di]
  mov word ptr [s],di
  pop di
  fxch st(1)
  cmp si,di
  je ret
  lodsb
  ret



 l7: cmp si,di
  je exit
  lodsb
  cmp al,15
  je open
  fldz
  cmp al,11
  jg exit
  db 0fh, 94h, 0c4h ; sete ah 
  jl l10
 l9:
  cmp si,di
  je l12
  lodsb
  cmp al,16
  je ret
 l10:
  cmp al,10
  jle l12i

 l12:
  or ah,ah
  je l13
  fchs
 l13:
  ret

 exit:
  mov dx,offset res
  mov ah,9
  int 21h
  int 20h

 done:
  mov di,word ptr [s]
  cmp di,(offset s)+2
  jne exit
  cmp al,16
  je ok
  cmp al,11
  jge exit
 ok:
  mov di,res
  mov si,res+100h
  fst dword ptr [si]
  test byte ptr [si+3],80h
  jz pos
  mov al,'-'
  stosb
  fchs
 pos:
  fldcw word ptr [cw]
  fld st(0)
  fbstp [si]
  mov bx,9
 l1000:
  mov al,[si+bx]
  test al,0f0h
  jne startu
  test al,0fh
  jne startl
  dec bx
  jns l1000
  mov al,'0'
  stosb
  jmp frac

 l12i:
  je l11
  fimul word ptr [d3]
  mov [bx],al
  fild word ptr [bx]
  faddp
  jmp l9
  ret

 startu:
  mov al,[si+bx]
  shr al,4
  add al,'0'
  stosb
 startl:
  mov al,[si+bx]
  and al,0fh
  add al,'0'
  stosb
  dec bx
  jns startu

 frac:
  mov al,'.'
  stosb
  mov byte ptr [di],'0'
  mov cl,10
  fld st(0)
  frndint
 frac1: 
  fsubp st(1)
  ficom word ptr [zero]
  fstsw ax
  and ah,045h
  cmp ah,040h
  je finished
  fimul word ptr [d3]
  fld st(0)
  frndint
  fist word ptr [di]
  add byte ptr [di],'0'
  inc di
  dec cl
  jnz frac1

 finished: 
  dec di
  cmp byte ptr [di],'0'
  je finished
  cmp byte ptr [di],'.'
  jne f2
  dec di
 f2:
  mov byte ptr [di+1],'$'
 exit2:
  jmp exit


 l11:
  fild word ptr [d3]
  fstp dword ptr [bx+2]
 l111:
  cmp si,di
  je ret
  lodsb
  cmp al,10
  je exit2
  jg ret
  mov [bx],al
  fild word ptr [bx]
  fdiv dword ptr [bx+2]
  faddp
  fld dword ptr [bx+2]
  fimul word ptr [d3]
  fstp dword ptr [bx+2]
  jmp l111


 d1: db '0123456789.-+/*()', 32, 9
 d3: dw 10
 op: db 0e9h, 0c1h, 0f9h, 0c9h
 cw: dw 0f7fh
 zero: dw 0
 res:db 'Error$'
 s:  dw (offset s)+2

Skizz

Skizz
. O.o .
Svish
+1 for being hardcore.
ojrac
Assembly - this is *real* programming!
Andreas Rejbrand
I once saw a full tetris game in 64 bytes
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
+3  A: 
finnw
+26  A: 

Ruby

Number of characters: 103

N='( *-?[\d.]+ *)'
def e x
x.sub!(/\(#{N}\)|#{N}([^.\d])#{N}/){$1or(e$2).send$3,e($4)}?e(x):x.to_f
end

This is a non-recursive version of The Wicked Flea's solution. Parenthesized sub-expressions are evaluated bottom-up instead of top-down.

Edit: Converting the 'while' to a conditional + tail recursion has saved a few characters, so it is no longer non-recursive (though the recursion is not semantically necessary.)

Edit: Borrowing Daniel Martin's idea of merging the regexps saves another 11 characters!

Edit: That recursion is even more useful than I first thought! x.to_f can be rewritten as e(x), if x happens to contain a single number.

Edit: Using 'or' instead of '||' allows a pair of parentheses to be dropped.

Long version:

# Decimal number, as a capturing group, for substitution
# in the main regexp below.
N='( *-?[\d.]+ *)'

# The evaluation function
def e(x)
  matched = x.sub!(/\(#{N}\)|#{N}([^\d.])#{N}/) do
    # Group 1 is a numeric literal in parentheses.  If this is present then
    # just return it.
    if $1
      $1
    # Otherwise, $3 is an operator symbol and $2 and $4 are the operands
    else
      # Recursively call e to parse the operands (we already know from the
      # regexp that they are numeric literals, and this is slightly shorter
      # than using :to_f)
      e($2).send($3, e($4))
      # We could have converted $3 to a symbol ($3.to_s) or converted the
      # result back to string form, but both are done automatically anyway
    end
  end
  if matched then
    # We did one reduction. Now recurse back and look for more.
    e(x)
  else
    # If the string doesn't look like a non-trivial expression, assume it is a
    # string representation of a real number and attempt to parse it
    x.to_f
  end
end
finnw
I almost thought this was the new leader until I saw the Perl one had been edited to become even shorter! Good job, anyway.
Noldorin
Getting rid of 'e=readline.chomp;...;p e.to_f' and using 'def q(e);...;e.to_f;end' like the other solutions would save 10 characters. However, it fails to q("1 + 3 / -8")==-0.5 as in the question.
ephemient
@ephemient that's a bug you found - it could not handle negative numbers.
finnw
The gsub!('--','') in my code is for how the parenthetical argument works, if negated. If the result of the interior of a negated parenthetical is negative the minus outside the statement remains: --7.0, for example. However, supporting that costs me 24 characters, still 19 above you. I don't know that I can shrink it any more than the tricks I learned from you. (But I did great for a 2nd try!)
The Wicked Flea
Using "send" is really coming close to violating the "no eval" rule.But nice trick incorporating the spaces into your number regex. Using that trick and another one got my perl solution down to 119 characters.
Daniel Martin
Perl's down to 107 now, but that's still 4 + 103...
ephemient
+1  A: 

C++

Chars: 1670

 // not trying to be terse here
#define DIGIT(c)((c)>='0' && (c) <= '9')
#define WHITE(pc) while(*pc == ' ') pc++
#define LP '('
#define RP ')'

bool SeeNum(const char* &pc, float& fNum){
    WHITE(pc);
    if (!(DIGIT(*pc) || (*pc=='.'&& DIGIT(pc[1])))) return false;
    const char* pc0 = pc;
    while(DIGIT(*pc)) pc++;
    if (*pc == '.'){
        pc++;
        while(DIGIT(*pc)) pc++;
    }
    char buf[200];
    int len = pc - pc0;
    strncpy(buf, pc0, len); buf[len] = 0;
    fNum = atof(buf);
    return true;
}

bool SeeChar(const char* &pc, char c){
    WHITE(pc);
    if (*pc != c) return false;
    pc++;
    return true;
}

void ParsExpr(const char* &pc, float &fNum);

void ParsPrim(const char* &pc, float &fNum){
    if (SeeNum(pc, fNum));
    else if (SeeChar(pc, LP)){
        ParsExpr(pc, fNum);
        if (!SeeChar(pc, RP)) exit(0);
    }
    else exit(0); // you can abort better than this
}

void ParsUnary(const char* &pc, float &fNum){
    if (SeeChar(pc, '-')){
        pc+;
        ParsUnary(pc, fNum);
        fNum = -fNum;
    }
    else {
        ParsPrim(pc, fNum);
    }
}

void ParsExpr(const char* &pc, float &fNum){
    ParsUnary(pc, fNum);
    float f1 = 0;
    while(true){
        if (SeeChar(pc, '+')){
            ParsUnary(pc, f1);
            fNum += f1;
        }
        else if (SeeChar(pc, '-')){
            ParsUnary(pc, f1);
            fNum -= f1;
        }
        else if (SeeChar(pc, '*')){
            ParsUnary(pc, f1);
            fNum *= f1;
        }
        else if (SeeChar(pc, '/')){
            ParsUnary(pc, f1);
            fNum /= f1;
        }
        else break;
    }
}

This is just LL1 (recursive descent). I like to do it this way (although I use doubles) because it's plenty fast, and easy to insert routines to handle precedence levels.

Mike Dunlavey
+3  A: 

C#

Number of Characters: 355

I took Noldorin's Answer and modified it, so give Noldorin 99% of the credit for this. Best I could do with the algorithm was using was 408 characters. See Noldorin's Answer for the clearer code version.

Changes made:
Change char comparisons to compare against numbers.
Removed some default declarations and combined same type of declarations.
Re-worked some of the if statments.

float q(string x){float v,n;if(!float.TryParse(x,out v)){x+=';';int t=0,l=0,i=0;char o,s='?',p='+';for(;i<x.Length;i++){o=s;if(x[i]!=32){s=x[i];if(char.IsDigit(x[i])|s==46|(s==45&o!=49))s='1';if(s==41)l--;if(s!=o&l==0){if(o==49|o==41){n=q(x.Substring(t,i-t));v=p==43?v+n:p==45?v-n:p==42?v*n:p==47?v/n:v;p=x[i];}t=i;if(s==40)t++;}if(s==40)l++;}}}return v;}

Edit: knocked it down some more, from 361 to 355, by removing one of the return statments.

Chris Persichetti
Ah, I didn't realise you'd already posted it as a new answer. Thanks for all the credit (which is probably more than I deserve, as I was stuck around 390). I'll take a look more closely at the modifications soon... the only one that I considered was changing char comparisons to use numbers. :)
Noldorin
+2  A: 

C# with Regex

Number of characters: 294

This is partially based off Jeff Moser's answer, but with a significantly simplified evaluation technique. There might even be further ways to reduce the char count, but I'm quite pleased now that there's a C# solution under 300 chars!

Fully obfuscated code:

float e(string x){while(x.Contains("("))x=Regex.Replace(x,@"\(([^\(]*?)\)",m=>e(m.Groups[1].Value).ToString());float r=0;foreach(Match m in Regex.Matches("+"+x,@"\D ?-?[\d.]+")){var o=m.Value[0];var v=float.Parse(m.Value.Substring(1));r=o=='+'?r+v:o=='-'?r-v:o=='*'?r*v:r/v;}return r;}

Clearer code:

float e(string x)
{
    while (x.Contains("("))
        x = Regex.Replace(x, @"\(([^\(]*?)\)", m => e(m.Groups[1].Value).ToString());
    float r = 0;
    foreach (Match m in Regex.Matches("+" + x, @"\D ?-?[\d.]+"))
    {
        var o = m.Value[0];
        var v = float.Parse(m.Value.Substring(1));
        r = o == '+' ? r + v : o == '-' ? r - v : o == '*' ? r * v : r / v;
    }
    return r;
}
Noldorin
+21  A: 

C (VS2005)

Number of Characters: 1360

Abuse of preprocessor and warnings for fun code layout (scroll down to see):

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define b main
#define c(a) b(a,0)
#define d -1
#define e -2
#define g break
#define h case
#define hh h
#define hhh h
#define w(i) case i
#define i return
#define j switch
#define k float
#define l realloc
#define m sscanf
#define n int _
#define o char
#define t(u) #u
#define q(r) "%f" t(r)  "n"
#define s while
#define v default
#define ex exit
#define W printf
#define x fn()
#define y strcat
#define z strcpy
#define Z strlen

char*p    =0    ;k    *b    (n,o**    a){k*f
;j(_){    hh   e:     i*    p==40?    (++p,c
(d        ))  :(      f=        l(        0,
4)        ,m (p       ,q        (%        ),
f,&_),    p+=_        ,f       );        hh
d:f=c(    e);s        (1      ){        j(
    *p    ++ ){       hh     0:        hh
    41    :i  f;      hh    43        :*
f+=*c(    e)   ;g     ;h    45:*f=    *f-*c(
e);g;h    42    :*    f=    *f**c(    e);g;h

47:*f      /=*c      (e);     g;   v:    c(0);}
}w(1):    if(p&&    printf    (q  ((     "\\"))
,*  c(    d)  ))    g;  hh    0: ex      (W
(x  ))    ;v  :p    =(        p?y:       z)(l(p
,Z(1[     a]  )+    (p        ?Z(p           )+
1:1))     ,1  [a    ])  ;b    (_ -1          ,a
+1  );    g;  }i    0;};fn    ()  {n     =42,p=
43  ;i     "Er"      "ro"     t(   r)    "\n";}

Skizz

Skizz
And how long did that take you? =)
gnovice
Far too long ;-)
Skizz
This is soooo cute!!
Po
+1  A: 

PowerBASIC

Number of characters: ~400

A bit ugly, but it works. :) I'm sure regexp would have made it even smaller.

DEFDBL E,f,i,z,q,a,v,o  
DEFSTR s,c,k,p

FUNCTION E(s)  

    i=LEN(s)  
    DO  
        IF MID$(s,i,1)="("THEN  
            q=INSTR(i,s,")")  
            s=LEFT$(s,i-1)+STR$(E(MID$(s,i+1,q-i-1)))+MID$(s,q+1)  
        END IF  
        i-=1  
    LOOP UNTIL i=0  

    k="+-*/"  
    DIM p(PARSECOUNT(s,ANY k))  
    PARSE s,p(),ANY k  

    a=VAL(p(0))

    FOR i=1TO LEN(s)
        c=MID$(s,i,1)
        q=INSTR(k,c)
        IF q THEN
            z+=1
            IF o=0 THEN o=q ELSE p(z)=c+p(z)
            IF TRIM$(p(z))<>"" THEN
                v=VAL(p(z))
                a=CHOOSE(o,a+v,a-v,a*v,a/v)
                o=0
            END IF
        END IF
    NEXT

    E=a  
END FUNCTION
+1  A: 

C#, 264 characters

Strategy: the first 2 lines get rid of parentheses by induction. Then I split by \-?[\d.]+ to get numbers and operators. then using aggregate to reduce the string array to a double value.

Variable explanations

m is parenthesized expression with no nested parentheses.
d is a placeholder for that awkward TryParse syntax.
v is the accumulator for the final value
t is the current token.

float E(string s){var d=999f;while(d-->1)s=Regex.Replace(s,@"(([^(]?))",m=>E(m.Groups[1].Value)+"");return Regex.Split(s,@"(-?[\d.]+)").Aggregate(d,(v,t)=>(t=t.Trim()).Length==0?v:!float.TryParse(t,out d)?(s=t)==""?0:v:s=="/"?v/d:s=="-"?v-d:s==""?v*d:v+d);}

    float F(string s) {
        var d=999f;
        while(d-->1)
            s=Regex.Replace(s,@"\(([^\(]*?)\)",m=>F(m.Groups[1].Value)+"");
        return Regex.Split(s, @"(\-?[\d\.]+)")
            .Aggregate(d, (v, t) => 
                (t=t.Trim()).Length == 0 ? v :
                !float.TryParse(t, out d) ? (s=t) == "" ? 0 : v :
                s == "/" ? v / d :
                s == "-" ? v - d :
                s == "*" ? v * d :
                           v + d);
    }

EDIT: shamelessly stole parts from noldorin's answer, reused s as the operator variable.

EDIT: 999 nested parentheses should be enough for anyone.

Jimmy
Pretty nice. Looks fairly similar to my regex solution in fact. It's all shown me a few interesting tricks for reducing count such as `+""` instead of `ToString`. Well done for throwing in the LINQ, too.
Noldorin
wow, I didn't see that one :) I might not have bothered posting this answer if I had. I think a lot of the differences simply come from my limited understanding of regex
Jimmy
Hehe, no worries. I'm just quite surprised how similar many parts of our solution are. You've certainly tempted me to reduce my char count now... I know I certainly can a bit.
Noldorin
+5  A: 

SQL (SQL Server 2008)

Number of characters: 4202

Fully obfuscated function:

WITH Input(id,str)AS(SELECT 1,'1 + 3 / -8'UNION ALL SELECT 2,'2*3*4*5+99'UNION ALL SELECT 3,'4 * (9 - 4)/ (2 * 6 - 2)+ 8'UNION ALL SELECT 4,'1 + ((123 * 3 - 69)/ 100)'UNION ALL SELECT 5,'2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)'),Separators(i,ch,str_src,priority)AS(SELECT 1,'-',1,1UNION ALL SELECT 2,'+',1,1UNION ALL SELECT 3,'*',1,1UNION ALL SELECT 4,'/',1,1UNION ALL SELECT 5,'(',0,0UNION ALL SELECT 6,')',0,0),SeparatorsStrSrc(str,i)AS(SELECT CAST('['AS varchar(max)),0UNION ALL SELECT str+ch,SSS.i+1FROM SeparatorsStrSrc SSS INNER JOIN Separators S ON SSS.i=S.i-1WHERE str_src<>0),SeparatorsStr(str)AS(SELECT str+']'FROM SeparatorsStrSrc WHERE i=(SELECT COUNT(*)FROM Separators WHERE str_src<>0)),ExprElementsSrc(id,i,tmp,ele,pre_ch,input_str)AS(SELECT id,1,CAST(LEFT(str,1)AS varchar(max)),CAST(''AS varchar(max)),CAST(' 'AS char(1)),SUBSTRING(str,2,LEN(str))FROM Input UNION ALL SELECT id,CASE ele WHEN''THEN i ELSE i+1 END,CAST(CASE WHEN LEFT(input_str,1)=' 'THEN''WHEN tmp='-'THEN CASE WHEN pre_ch LIKE(SELECT str FROM SeparatorsStr)THEN tmp+LEFT(input_str,1)ELSE LEFT(input_str,1)END WHEN LEFT(input_str,1)IN(SELECT ch FROM Separators)OR tmp IN(SELECT ch FROM Separators)THEN LEFT(input_str,1)ELSE tmp+LEFT(input_str,1)END AS varchar(max)),CAST(CASE WHEN LEFT(input_str,1)=' 'THEN tmp WHEN LEFT(input_str,1)='-'THEN CASE WHEN tmp IN(SELECT ch FROM Separators)THEN tmp ELSE''END WHEN LEFT(input_str,1)IN(SELECT ch FROM Separators)OR tmp IN(SELECT ch FROM Separators)THEN CASE WHEN tmp='-'AND pre_ch LIKE(SELECT str FROM SeparatorsStr)THEN''ELSE tmp END ELSE''END AS varchar(max)),CAST(LEFT(ele,1)AS char(1)),SUBSTRING(input_str,2,LEN(input_str))FROM ExprElementsSrc WHERE input_str<>''OR tmp<>''),ExprElements(id,i,ele)AS(SELECT id,i,ele FROM ExprElementsSrc WHERE ele<>''),Scanner(id,i,val)AS(SELECT id,i,CAST(ele AS varchar(max))FROM ExprElements WHERE ele<>''UNION ALL SELECT id,MAX(i)+1,NULL FROM ExprElements GROUP BY id),Operator(op,priority)AS(SELECT ch,priority FROM Separators WHERE priority<>0),Calc(id,c,i,pop_count,s0,s1,s2,stack,status)AS(SELECT Scanner.id,1,1,0,CAST(scanner.val AS varchar(max)),CAST(NULL AS varchar(max)),CAST(NULL AS varchar(max)),CAST(''AS varchar(max)),CAST('init'AS varchar(max))FROM Scanner WHERE Scanner.i=1UNION ALL SELECT Calc.id,Calc.c+1,Calc.i,3,NULL,NULL,NULL,CASE Calc.s1 WHEN'+'THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real)+CAST(Calc.s0 AS real)AS varchar(max))WHEN'-'THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real)-CAST(Calc.s0 AS real)AS varchar(max))WHEN'*'THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real)*CAST(Calc.s0 AS real)AS varchar(max))WHEN'/'THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real)/CAST(Calc.s0 AS real)AS varchar(max))ELSE NULL END+' '+stack,CAST('calc '+Calc.s1 AS varchar(max))FROM Calc INNER JOIN Scanner NextVal ON Calc.id=NextVal.id AND Calc.i+1=NextVal.i WHERE Calc.pop_count=0AND ISNUMERIC(Calc.s2)=1AND Calc.s1 IN(SELECT op FROM Operator)AND ISNUMERIC(Calc.s0)=1AND(SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op=Calc.s1)>=COALESCE((SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op=NextVal.val),0)UNION ALL SELECT Calc.id,Calc.c+1,Calc.i,3,NULL,NULL,NULL,s1+' '+stack,CAST('paren'AS varchar(max))FROM Calc WHERE pop_count=0AND s2='('AND ISNUMERIC(s1)=1AND s0=')'UNION ALL SELECT Calc.id,Calc.c+1,Calc.i,Calc.pop_count-1,s1,s2,CASE WHEN LEN(stack)>0THEN SUBSTRING(stack,1,CHARINDEX(' ',stack)-1)ELSE NULL END,CASE WHEN LEN(stack)>0THEN SUBSTRING(stack,CHARINDEX(' ',stack)+1,LEN(stack))ELSE''END,CAST('pop'AS varchar(max))FROM Calc WHERE Calc.pop_count>0UNION ALL SELECT Calc.id,Calc.c+1,Calc.i+1,Calc.pop_count,CAST(NextVal.val AS varchar(max)),s0,s1,coalesce(s2,'')+' '+stack,cast('read'as varchar(max))FROM Calc INNER JOIN Scanner NextVal ON Calc.id=NextVal.id AND Calc.i+1=NextVal.i WHERE NextVal.val IS NOT NULL AND Calc.pop_count=0AND((Calc.s0 IS NULL OR calc.s1 IS NULL OR calc.s2 IS NULL)OR NOT(ISNUMERIC(Calc.s2)=1AND Calc.s1 IN(SELECT op FROM Operator)AND ISNUMERIC(calc.s0)=1AND (SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op=Calc.s1)>=COALESCE((SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op=NextVal.val),0))AND NOT(s2='('AND ISNUMERIC(s1)=1AND s0=')')))SELECT Calc.id,Input.str,Calc.s0 AS result FROM Calc INNER JOIN Input ON Calc.id=Input.id WHERE Calc.c=(SELECT MAX(c)FROM Calc calc2 WHERE Calc.id=Calc2.id)ORDER BY id

Clear/semi-obfuscated function:

WITH
  Input(id, str) AS (    
    SELECT 1, '1 + 3 / -8'
    UNION ALL SELECT 2, '2*3*4*5+99'
    UNION ALL SELECT 3, '4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8'
    UNION ALL SELECT 4, '1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)'
    UNION ALL SELECT 5, '2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)'
  )
, Separators(i, ch, str_src, priority) AS (
    SELECT 1, '-', 1, 1
    UNION ALL SELECT 2, '+', 1, 1
    UNION ALL SELECT 3, '*', 1, 1
    UNION ALL SELECT 4, '/', 1, 1
    UNION ALL SELECT 5, '(', 0, 0
    UNION ALL SELECT 6, ')', 0, 0
  )
, SeparatorsStrSrc(str, i) AS (
    SELECT CAST('[' AS varchar(max)), 0
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        str + ch
      , SSS.i + 1
    FROM
        SeparatorsStrSrc SSS
          INNER JOIN Separators S ON SSS.i = S.i - 1
    WHERE
        str_src <> 0
  )
, SeparatorsStr(str) AS (
    SELECT str + ']' FROM SeparatorsStrSrc
    WHERE i = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Separators WHERE str_src <> 0)
  )
, ExprElementsSrc(id, i, tmp, ele, pre_ch, input_str) AS (
    SELECT
        id
      , 1
      , CAST(LEFT(str, 1) AS varchar(max))
      , CAST('' AS varchar(max))
      , CAST(' ' AS char(1))
      , SUBSTRING(str, 2, LEN(str))
    FROM
        Input
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        id
      , CASE ele
        WHEN '' THEN i
                ELSE i + 1
        END
      , CAST(
          CASE
          WHEN LEFT(input_str, 1) = ' '
            THEN ''
          WHEN tmp = '-'
            THEN CASE
                 WHEN pre_ch LIKE (SELECT str FROM SeparatorsStr)
                   THEN tmp + LEFT(input_str, 1)
                   ELSE LEFT(input_str, 1)
                 END
          WHEN LEFT(input_str, 1) IN (SELECT ch FROM Separators)
               OR
               tmp IN (SELECT ch FROM Separators)
            THEN LEFT(input_str, 1)
            ELSE tmp + LEFT(input_str, 1)
          END
        AS varchar(max))
      , CAST(
          CASE
          WHEN LEFT(input_str, 1) = ' '
            THEN tmp
          WHEN LEFT(input_str, 1) = '-'
            THEN CASE
                 WHEN tmp IN (SELECT ch FROM Separators)
                   THEN tmp
                   ELSE ''
                 END
          WHEN LEFT(input_str, 1) IN (SELECT ch FROM Separators)
               OR
               tmp IN (SELECT ch FROM Separators)
            THEN CASE
                 WHEN tmp = '-' AND pre_ch LIKE (SELECT str FROM SeparatorsStr)
                   THEN ''
                   ELSE tmp
                 END
            ELSE ''
          END
        AS varchar(max))
      , CAST(LEFT(ele, 1) AS char(1))
      , SUBSTRING(input_str, 2, LEN(input_str))
    FROM
        ExprElementsSrc
    WHERE
        input_str <> ''
        OR
        tmp <> ''
  )
, ExprElements(id, i, ele) AS (
    SELECT
        id
      , i
      , ele
    FROM
        ExprElementsSrc
    WHERE
        ele <> ''
  )
, Scanner(id, i, val) AS (
    SELECT
        id
      , i
      , CAST(ele AS varchar(max))
    FROM
        ExprElements
    WHERE
        ele <> ''
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        id
      , MAX(i) + 1
      , NULL
    FROM
        ExprElements
    GROUP BY
        id
  )
, Operator(op, priority) AS (
    SELECT
        ch
      , priority 
    FROM
        Separators
    WHERE
        priority <> 0
  )
, Calc(id, c, i, pop_count, s0, s1, s2, stack, status) AS (
    SELECT
        Scanner.id
      , 1
      , 1
      , 0
      , CAST(scanner.val AS varchar(max))
      , CAST(NULL AS varchar(max))
      , CAST(NULL AS varchar(max))
      , CAST('' AS varchar(max))
      , CAST('init' AS varchar(max))
    FROM
        Scanner
    WHERE
        Scanner.i = 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        Calc.id
      , Calc.c + 1
      , Calc.i
      , 3
      , NULL
      , NULL
      , NULL
      , CASE Calc.s1
        WHEN '+' THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real) + CAST(Calc.s0 AS real) AS varchar(max))
        WHEN '-' THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real) - CAST(Calc.s0 AS real) AS varchar(max))
        WHEN '*' THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real) * CAST(Calc.s0 AS real) AS varchar(max))
        WHEN '/' THEN CAST(CAST(Calc.s2 AS real) / CAST(Calc.s0 AS real) AS varchar(max))
                 ELSE NULL
        END
          + ' '
          + stack
      , CAST('calc ' + Calc.s1 AS varchar(max))
    FROM
        Calc
          INNER JOIN Scanner NextVal ON Calc.id = NextVal.id
                                          AND Calc.i + 1 = NextVal.i
    WHERE
        Calc.pop_count = 0
          AND ISNUMERIC(Calc.s2) = 1
          AND Calc.s1 IN (SELECT op FROM Operator)
          AND ISNUMERIC(Calc.s0) = 1
          AND (SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op = Calc.s1)
            >= COALESCE((SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op = NextVal.val), 0)
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        Calc.id
      , Calc.c + 1
      , Calc.i
      , 3
      , NULL
      , NULL
      , NULL
      , s1 + ' ' + stack
      , CAST('paren' AS varchar(max))
    FROM
        Calc
    WHERE
        pop_count = 0
          AND s2 = '('
          AND ISNUMERIC(s1) = 1
          AND s0 = ')'
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        Calc.id
      , Calc.c + 1
      , Calc.i
      , Calc.pop_count - 1
      , s1
      , s2
      , CASE
        WHEN LEN(stack) > 0
          THEN SUBSTRING(stack, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', stack) - 1)
          ELSE NULL
        END
      , CASE
        WHEN LEN(stack) > 0
          THEN SUBSTRING(stack, CHARINDEX(' ', stack) + 1, LEN(stack))
          ELSE ''
        END
      , CAST('pop' AS varchar(max))
    FROM
        Calc
    WHERE
        Calc.pop_count > 0
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        Calc.id
      , Calc.c + 1
      , Calc.i + 1
      , Calc.pop_count
      , CAST(NextVal.val AS varchar(max))
      , s0
      , s1
      , coalesce(s2, '') + ' ' + stack
      , cast('read' as varchar(max))
    FROM
        Calc
          INNER JOIN Scanner NextVal ON Calc.id = NextVal.id
                                          AND Calc.i + 1 = NextVal.i
    WHERE
        NextVal.val IS NOT NULL
          AND Calc.pop_count = 0
          AND (
            (Calc.s0 IS NULL or calc.s1 is null or calc.s2 is null)
            OR
            NOT(
              ISNUMERIC(Calc.s2) = 1
                AND Calc.s1 IN (SELECT op FROM Operator)
                AND ISNUMERIC(calc.s0) = 1
                AND (SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op = Calc.s1)
                  >= COALESCE((SELECT priority FROM Operator WHERE op = NextVal.val), 0)
            )
              AND NOT(s2 = '(' AND ISNUMERIC(s1) = 1 AND s0 = ')')
          )
  )
SELECT
    Calc.id
  , Input.str
  , Calc.s0 AS result
FROM
    Calc
      INNER JOIN Input ON Calc.id = Input.id
WHERE
    Calc.c = (SELECT MAX(c) FROM Calc calc2
              WHERE Calc.id = Calc2.id)
ORDER BY
    id

It is not shortest. But I think that it is very flexible for SQL. It's easy to add new operators. It's easy to change priority of operators.

Gosh, I don't think I was ever expecting an SQL solution! This isn't completely in the spirit of code golf, but up-voted anyway for the audacity (and not even using a programming language). :)
Noldorin
@Noldorin, why isn't it in the spirit of code golf?
tuinstoel
A: 

PHP

Number of characters: 170

Fully obfuscated function:

function a($a,$c='#\(([^()]*)\)#e',$d='a("$1","#^ *-?[\d.]+ *\S *-?[\d.]+ *#e","\$0")'){$e='preg_replace';while($a!=$b=$e($c,$d,$a))$a = $b;return$e('#^(.*)$#e',$d,$a);}

Clearer function:

function a($a, $c = '#\(([^()]*)\)#e', $d = 'a("$1", "#^ *-?[\d.]+ *\S *-?[\d.]+ *#e", "\$0")') {
 $e = 'preg_replace';
 while ($a != $b = $e($c, $d, $a)) {
  $a = $b;
 }
 return $e('#^(.*)$#e', $d, $a);
}

Tests:

assert(a('1 + 3 / -8') === '-0.5');
assert(a('2*3*4*5+99') === '219');
assert(a('4 * (9 - 4) / (2 * 6 - 2) + 8') === '10');
assert(a('1 + ((123 * 3 - 69) / 100)') === '4');
assert(a('2.45/8.5*9.27+(5*0.0023)') === '2.68344117647');
assert(a(' 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 + 99 ') === '219');
eisberg
The e modifier to preg_replace violates the rule that evals are forbidden.
soulmerge
A: 

Is there any code with optimization? Such as multiplication on zero or serial infix minus. On Python or C.

L1ker
A: 

OCaml using Camlp4 directly:

open Camlp4.PreCast

let expr = Gram.Entry.mk "expr"

EXTEND Gram
  expr:
  [   [ e1 = expr; "+"; e2 = expr -> e1 + e2
      | e1 = expr; "-"; e2 = expr -> e1 - e2 ]
  |   [ e1 = expr; "*"; e2 = expr -> e1 * e2
      | e1 = expr; "/"; e2 = expr -> e1 / e2 ]
  |   [ n = INT -> int_of_string n
      | "("; e = expr; ")" -> e ]   ];
END

let () = Gram.parse expr Loc.ghost (Stream.of_string "1-2+3*4")

OCaml using the Camlp4 stream parser extension:

open Genlex

let lex = make_lexer ["+"; "-"; "*"; "/"; "("; ")"]

let rec parse_atom = parser
  | [< 'Int n >] -> n
  | [< 'Kwd "("; e=parse_expr; 'Kwd ")" >] -> e
and parse_factor = parser
  | [< e1=parse_atom; stream >] ->
      (parser
         | [< 'Kwd "*"; e2=parse_factor >] -> e1 * e2
         | [< 'Kwd "/"; e2=parse_factor >] -> e1 / e2
         | [< >] -> e1) stream
and parse_expr = parser
  | [< e1=parse_factor; stream >] ->
      (parser
         | [< 'Kwd "+"; e2=parse_expr >] -> e1 + e2
         | [< 'Kwd "-"; e2=parse_expr >] -> e1 - e2
         | [< >] -> e1) stream

let () =
  Printf.printf "%d\n" (parse_expr(lex(Stream.of_string "1 + 2 * (3 + 4)")));;
Jon Harrop