reverse Polish notation n 1: a parenthesis-free notation for forming mathematical expressions in which each operator follows its operands [syn: {postfix notation}, {suffix notation}, {reverse Polish notation}]
postfix notation postfix syntax Reverse Polish Notation reverse polish syntax RPN <language> (Or "Reverse Polish Notation", RPN) One of the possible orderings of {functions} and {operands}: in postfix notation the functions are preceded by all their operands. For example, what may normally be written as "1+2" becomes "1 2 +". Postfix notation is well suited for {stack} based {architectures} but modern {compilers} reduced this advantage considerably. The best-known language with postfix syntax is {FORTH}. Some {Hewlett-Packard} calculators use it, e.g. HP-25, HP-29C, HP-41C, HP-23SII. Compare: {infix notation}, {prefix notation}. (2003-06-23)