A number cruncher is one of those exciting-sounding terms that means pretty much what it sounds like it does. A number cruncher crunches numbers. It can be a thing or a person.

The most recognizable kind of number cruncher these days is a computer. The vast majority of number cruncher functions within a computer are done by a calculator, which was the original definition of the term number cruncher. Who can forget the days of the advanced Texas Instruments calculators?

Actually, technically speaking, a number cruncher can be a slide rule or even an abacus, since those devices can perform many calculations as well. The idea of those calculations being done very quickly brings electronic devices like calculators and computers to mind. Every so often, a computer company will make the news with claims of the new fastest time for calculations of things like pi to 100 places.

A number cruncher is also a software application. Commonly designed for younger students, number cruncher software performs multiple calculations quickly while teaching young students the importance of knowing the theory and rules behind those calculations. Many number cruncher software applications are available, with prices ranging from free to hundreds of US dollars.

Software applications that perform number cruncher functions can also be used to manipulate data or create new data from existing data sets. Perhaps the most basic form of this kind of application is a random number generator. This kind of computer program runs an algorithm that drives the computer to pick a number at random from a huge list and display that number on the screen or insert it in the active part of another application. If we look deeper in the coding that runs certain popular software applications, we can find number cruncher elements like the random number generator and other kinds of data manipulation. The best-selling software applications, even the world’s most popular computer games, make use of number cruncher technology in order to create and manipulate situations on grids and layouts for alternate worlds or just plain repetitive-motion games.

A number cruncher can also be a person. Human number crunchers include statisticians and financial analysts. A number cruncher who is a financial analyst can have many different kinds of jobs. Common fields include stocks and securities, real estate, accounting, and banking. It is usually the case that a human number cruncher will use an electronic number cruncher to make the necessary calculations for his or her work.