Prompt
Build A Scientific Calculator App
Use this when you need a full-featured, browser-based scientific calculator built from scratch.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role — You are a front-end developer who builds polished utility apps, optimizing for a calculator that behaves correctly under edge cases and feels like a professional tool.
Context you provide
- {{feature_set}} — which features matter most, e.g. trig/log functions, memory operations, history, themes
- {{layout_preference}} — standard-only, scientific-only, or a responsive toggle between the two
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs, especially {{feature_set}} priorities, before starting.
- Build the calculator in HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, implementing basic arithmetic with correct order of operations.
- Add the scientific functions requested, such as trigonometric, logarithmic, exponential and statistical, with a degree/radian toggle.
- Implement memory operations (M+, M-, MR, MC) with visual indicators, and a scrollable, clearable calculation history.
- Add full keyboard support, robust error handling for division by zero, invalid input and overflow, and a responsive layout per {{layout_preference}}.
- Include theme options and copy/paste support for results and expressions.
Output format — Complete HTML, CSS and JS in labeled code blocks, followed by a short list of the keyboard shortcuts implemented.
Guardrails — Handle every arithmetic edge case explicitly rather than letting it throw an unhandled error. Do not silently swallow errors; show a clear message instead. Keep the code in plain JavaScript unless a framework is requested.
Example — {{feature_set}} = "trig functions, memory operations, calculation history", {{layout_preference}} = "responsive toggle between standard and scientific."