How to make a calculator in C#
Educative Answers TeamInitial Setup
To code a project in C#, it is recommended that you use Microsoft’s official IDE, Visual Studio.
Before starting work on this project, Visual Studio needs to be installed and a new Windows Form project needs to be created.
UI Setup
Next, a basic user interface needs to be designed.
To design the user interface in Visual Studio, objects can be dragged and dropped on the window once a Windows form project is created. A TextBox should be inserted to display the input and output, and buttons should be inserted to allow for input. To speed the process up, buttons can be copied and pasted using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.
Writing the code
The buttons need to be programmed to do what is required of them.
class Calculator
{
// To store current number being input
string input = "0";
// To store first input number
string num1 = "0";
// To store second number
string num2 = "0";
// To store the operator
string function = string.empty;
// To initialize the program
public Form1()
{
initializeComponent();
}
// Handling numeric input
public void button_Zero(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "0";
}
else {
input = "0";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_One(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "1";
}
else {
input = "1";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Two(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "2";
}
else {
input = "2";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Three(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "3";
}
else {
input = "3";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Four(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "4";
}
else {
input = "4";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Five(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "5";
}
else {
input = "5";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Six(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "6";
}
else {
input = "6";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Seven(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "7";
}
else {
input = "7";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Eight(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "8";
}
else {
input = "8";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
public void button_Nine(object o, EventArgs e)
{
if (input != "0"){
// Updating input
input = input + "9";
}
else {
input = "9";
}
this.textBox.Text = "";
this.textBox.Text += input;
}
// Handling operator input
public void button_Plus(object o, EventArgs e)
{
num1 = input;
input = "0";
this.textBox.Text = "";
function = "+";
}
public void button_Minus(object o, EventArgs e)
{
num1 = input;
input = "0";
this.textBox.Text = "";
function = "-";
}
public void button_Multiply(object o, EventArgs e)
{
num1 = input;
input = "0";
this.textBox.Text = "";
function = "*";
}
public void button_Divide(object o, EventArgs e)
{
num1 = input;
input = "0";
this.textBox.Text = "";
function = "/";
}
// Handling result
public void button_Equal(object o, EventArgs e)
{
num2 = input;
if (function != string.empty){
double n1, n2, result;
try {
// Convert to double data type
double.TryParse(num1, n1);
double.TryParse(num2, n2);
// Checking operator and calculating output
switch(function){
case "+":
this.textBox.Text = "";
result = n1 + n2;
this.textBox.Text = result.ToString();
break;
case "-":
this.textBox.Text = "";
result = n1 - n2;
this.textBox.Text = result.ToString();
break;
case "*":
this.textBox.Text = "";
result = n1 * n2;
this.textBox.Text = result.ToString();
break;
case "/":
this.textBox.Text = "";
result = n1 / n2;
this.textBox.Text = result.ToString();
break;
}
}
catch { // Handling Math Errors
this.textBox.Text = "Math Error"
input = "";
num1 = "";
num2 = "";
function = "";
}
}
}
// Setting up clear button
public void button_Clear(object o, EventArgs e)
{
input = "";
num1 = "";
num2 = "";
function = "";
this.textBox.Text = "";
}
}This program contains all of the event-handlers for button clicks on the calculator. It is a basic program that uses the globally declared variables input, num1, num2, and function. input contains the number currently being input, num1 contains the first operand, num2 contains the second operand, and function contains the operator.
When the operator is selected, the program transfers the contents of input into num1, inserts the appropriate operator into function, and empties input for the second operand.
When the = button is pressed, the program copies the contents of input into num2 and converts both num1 and num2 into doubles. These converted values are stored in n1 and n2 and used to calculate and display the output. In the case of an error, the catch statement will reset the values and display an error message.
If the C button is pressed, all global variables are reset and the output box is emptied.
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