The Big Book of Small Python Projects

#70 Soroban Japanese Abacus

An abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used in many cultures long before electronic calculators were invented. Figure 70-1 shows the Japanese form of the abacus, called a soroban. Each wire represents a place in a positional numeral system, and the beads on the wire represent the digit at that place. For example, a soroban with two beads moved over on the rightmost wire and three beads moved over on the second-to-rightmost wire would represent the number 32. This program simulates a soroban. (The irony of using a computer to simulate a pre-computer computing tool is not lost on me.)