A calculator is a machine for performing calculations. Although modern calculators often incorporate a general purpose computer, the device is calculated for performing specific operations, rather than for flexibility. Modern calculators are more convenient than most computers, though some Pads are comparable in amount to handheld calculators.

In the past, some calculators were as huge as today's computers. The first automatic calculators were mechanical desktop devices which were replaced by electromechanical desktop calculators, and then by electronic devices using first sung valves, then transistors, then hard-wired integrated circuit logic. New calculators are electrically powered and come in innumerable shapes and sizes varying from cheap, give-away, credit-card sized models to more sturdy adding machine-like models with built-in printers.