G'day reisinge,

"Sometimes I need to do a quick calculation. I'm too lazy to open a GUI calculator ..."

Me, too. I have a file, .bash_functions, that I source from .bashrc, which contains this function:

function perls () {
    eval "echo \`perl -T -Mstrict -Mwarnings -Mautodie=:all -E '
        my \$ev = eval \"$@\";
        say defined \$ev ? \"\$ev\" : \"$@\";
    '\`"
}
[download]

Here's some examples. The first two show normal operation; the third shows error handling.

$ perls 6*7
42

$ perls 196**.5
14

$ perls 196***.5
Number found where operator expected at (eval 6) line 1, near "*.5"
        (Missing operator before 5?)
196***.5
[download]

Obviously, that has less functionality than ++yours; however, it has served me well for quick calculations on the command line.

In anticipation of the question, "What does the 's' stand for?"; the answer is, "I don't remember". I've been using that function for probably a decade or more; the meaning of 's' has been lost in the mists of time. :-)