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Bash Calculates monthly payment on a mortgage

Calculates monthly payment on a mortgage

#!/bin/bash
# monthlypmt.sh: Calculates monthly payment on a mortgage.


#  This is a modification of code in the "mcalc" (mortgage calculator) package,
#+ by Jeff Schmidt and Mendel Cooper (yours truly, the author of this document).
#   http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/apps/financial/mcalc-1.6.tar.gz  [15k]

echo
echo "Given the principal, interest rate, and term of a mortgage,"
echo "calculate the monthly payment."

bottom=1.0

echo
echo -n "Enter principal (no commas) "
read principal
echo -n "Enter interest rate (percent) "  # If 12%, enter "12", not ".12".
read interest_r
echo -n "Enter term (months) "
read term


 interest_r=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_r/100.0" | bc) # Convert to decimal.
                 # "scale" determines how many decimal places.
  

 interest_rate=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_r/12 + 1.0" | bc)
 

 top=$(echo "scale=9; $principal*$interest_rate^$term" | bc)

 echo; echo "Please be patient. This may take a while."

 let "months = $term - 1"
# ==================================================================== 
 for ((x=$months; x > 0; x--))
 do
   bot=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_rate^$x" | bc)
   bottom=$(echo "scale=9; $bottom+$bot" | bc)
#  bottom = $(($bottom + $bot"))
 done
# -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
#  Rick Boivie pointed out a more efficient implementation
#+ of the above loop, which decreases computation time by 2/3.

# for ((x=1; x <= $months; x++))
# do
#   bottom=$(echo "scale=9; $bottom * $interest_rate + 1" | bc)
# done


#  And then he came up with an even more efficient alternative,
#+ one that cuts down the run time by about 95%!

# bottom=`{
#     echo "scale=9; bottom=$bottom; interest_rate=$interest_rate"
#     for ((x=1; x <= $months; x++))
#     do
#          echo 'bottom = bottom * interest_rate + 1'
#     done
#     echo 'bottom'
#     } | bc`       # Embeds a 'for loop' within command substitution.

# ==================================================================== 

 # let "payment = $top/$bottom"
 payment=$(echo "scale=2; $top/$bottom" | bc)
 # Use two decimal places for dollars and cents.
 
 echo
 echo "monthly payment = \$$payment"  # Echo a dollar sign in front of amount.
 echo


 exit 0

 # Exercises:
 #   1) Filter input to permit commas in principal amount.
 #   2) Filter input to permit interest to be entered as percent or decimal.
 #   3) If you are really ambitious,
 #      expand this script to print complete amortization tables.

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