HP-10C Series - HP-16C

The HP-16C is a computer programmer's calculator, designed to assist in debugging. It can display numbers in hexadecimal, decimal, octal and binary, and convert numbers from one base to another. To accommodate long binary numbers, the display can be 'windowed' by shifting it left and right. For consistency with the computer the programmer is working with, the word size can be set to different values from 1 to 64 bits. Binary-arithmetic operations can be performed as unsigned, ones' complement, or two's complement operations. This allows the calculator to emulate the programmer's computer. A number of specialized functions are provided to assist the programmer, including left- and right shifting, masking, and bitwise logical operations. HP has (so far) never made another programmer's calculator, which would suggest that sales were poor. This is surprising considering the amount of mail the HP museum receives praising this model.

Although HP has never made another specific programmer's calculator since the HP-16C, most powerful HP calculators have commands including all HP-16C operations. For example, HP-48 series calculators have a 64 bit binary number object which can be displayed in binary, decimal, hexadecimal and octal, and all binary arithmetic operations (binary +, -, *, integer division, 2-complement/NEG, all of them with possible carry/overflow as it is indispensable for binary arithmetic), logical bit-wise and rotation operations are available (AND, OR, XOR, 1-complement/NOT, bit rotation and shifting like ASR, RL, etc.). Even word size can be selected between 1 to 64 bits for such operations (operations are affected by word size) exactly like in HP-16C. In some way most powerful HP calculators inherit all those commands and 1-to-64 bits word size binary integer from HP-16C.