Interfaces

An interface is how you hand code to handcalcs. All three use the same parser and the same renderers; they differ in where the code and its values come from.

Interface	You write	Values come from	Returns	Best for
%%render	a Jupyter cell	the notebook namespace	displays the output	notebooks
HandCalcs	a string or a .py file	running the code, or a namespace you pass	the rendered output	scripts, reports, web apps, tests
@handcalc	a function	the function’s call	(return value, rendered output)	reusable calculations

In 30 seconds

Jupyter

import handcalcs

%%render
a = 2
b = 3
c = 2*a + b/3

HandCalcs

from handcalcs import HandCalcs
from handcalcs.renderers import LatexRenderer

hc = HandCalcs(renderer=LatexRenderer())
latex = hc("a = 2\nb = 3\nc = 2*a + b/3\n")

@handcalc

from handcalcs import handcalc
from handcalcs.renderers import HTMLRenderer

@handcalc(HTMLRenderer())
def moment(w, L):
    M = w * L**2 / 8
    return M

value, html = moment(5, 6)

Which one?

• Working in a notebook: use %%render. Change its output format with %hc_default_renderer.

• Generating output from a program (a report, a web page, a batch of PDFs): use HandCalcs. It is the most direct interface and the one the others are built on.

• Wrapping a calculation you call repeatedly with different inputs: use @handcalc, which returns the result for your program and the rendered calculation for your report.