Python
Number of characters: 235
Fully obfuscated function:
def g(a):
i=len(a)
while i:
try:m=g(a[i+1:]);n=g(a[:i]);a=str({'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/(m or 1)}[a[i]])
except:i-=1;j=a.rfind('(')+1
if j:k=a.find(')',j);a=a[:j-1]+str(g(a[j:k]))+a[k+1:]
return float(a.replace('--',''))
Semi-obfuscated:
def g(a):
i=len(a);
# do the math
while i:
try:
# recursively evaluate left and right
m=g(a[i+1:])
n=g(a[:i])
# try to do the math assuming that a[i] is an operator
a=str({'+':n+m,'-':n-m,'*':n*m,'/':n/(m or 1)}[a[i]])
except:
# failure -> next try
i-=1
j=a.rfind('(')+1
# replace brackets in parallel (this part is executed first)
if j:
k=a.find(')',j)
a=a[:j-1]+str(g(a[j:k]))+a[k+1:]
return float(a.replace('--',''))
FWIW, the n+1th Python solution. In a blatant abuse of try-except I use a trial-and-error approach. It should handle all cases properly including stuff like -(8), --8 and g('-(1 - 3)'). It is re-entrant. Without support for the -- case which many implementations don't support, it is at 217 chars (see previous revision).
Thanks for an interesting hour on a Sunday and another 30 mins on Monday. Thanks to krubo for his nice dict.
