diff --git a/funcs.go b/funcs.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5fb6c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/funcs.go
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/*
+Copyright © 2023 Thomas von Dein
+
+This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"math"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// every function we  are able to call must be  of type Funcall, which
+// needs tp  specify how  many numbers  it expects  and the  actual go
+// function to be executed.
+//
+// The function  has to take  a float slice  as argument and  return a
+// float and  an error object. The  float slice is guaranteed  to have
+// the expected number of arguments.
+//
+// However, Lua functions are handled differently, see interpreter.go.
+type Function func([]float64) (float64, error)
+type Funcall struct {
+	Expectargs int // -1 means batch only mode, you'll get the whole stack as arg
+	Func       Function
+}
+
+// will hold all hard coded functions and operators
+type Funcalls map[string]*Funcall
+
+// convenience function,  create a  new Funcall object,  if expectargs
+// was not specified, 2 is assumed.
+func NewFuncall(function Function, expectargs ...int) *Funcall {
+	expect := 2
+
+	if len(expectargs) > 0 {
+		expect = expectargs[0]
+	}
+
+	return &Funcall{
+		Expectargs: expect,
+		Func:       function,
+	}
+}
+
+// the actual functions, called once during initialization.
+func DefineFunctions() Funcalls {
+	f := map[string]*Funcall{
+		// simple operators, they all expect 2 args
+		"+": NewFuncall(
+			func(arg []float64) (float64, error) {
+				return arg[0] + arg[1], nil
+			},
+		),
+		"-": NewFuncall(
+			func(arg []float64) (float64, error) {
+				return arg[0] - arg[1], nil
+			},
+		),
+		"x": NewFuncall(
+			func(arg []float64) (float64, error) {
+				return arg[0] * arg[1], nil
+			},
+		),
+		"/": NewFuncall(
+			func(arg []float64) (float64, error) {
+				if arg[1] == 0 {
+					return 0, errors.New("division by null")
+				}
+
+				return arg[0] / arg[1], nil
+			},
+		),
+		"^": NewFuncall(
+			func(arg []float64) (float64, error) {
+				return math.Pow(arg[0], arg[1]), nil
+			},
+		),
+	}
+
+	// aliases
+	f["*"] = f["x"]
+
+	return f
+}
+
+func list2str(list []float64) string {
+	return strings.Trim(strings.Join(strings.Fields(fmt.Sprint(list)), " "), "[]")
+}
+
+// we need to add a history entry for each operation
+func (c *Calc) SetHistory(op string, args []float64) {
+	c.History("%s %s", list2str(args))
+}
+
+// Execute a math function, check if it is defined just in case
+//
+// FIXME:  add a  loop over  DoFuncall() for  non-batch-only functions
+// like + or *
+func (c *Calc) DoFuncall(funcname string) (float64, error) {
+	if function, ok := c.Functions[funcname]; ok {
+		args := []float64{}
+		batch := false
+
+		if function.Expectargs == -1 {
+			// batch mode, but always < stack len, so check first
+			args = c.stack.All()
+			batch = true
+		} else {
+			//  this is way better behavior than just using 0 in place of
+			// non-existing stack items
+			if c.stack.Len() < function.Expectargs {
+				return -1, errors.New("stack doesn't provide enough arguments")
+			}
+
+			args = c.stack.Last(function.Expectargs)
+		}
+
+		// the  actual lambda call, so  to say. We provide  a slice of
+		// the requested size, fetched  from the stack (but not popped
+		// yet!)
+		res, err := function.Func(args)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			// leave the stack untouched in case of any error
+			return res, err
+		}
+
+		if batch {
+			// get rid of stack
+			c.stack.Clear()
+		} else {
+			// remove operands
+			c.stack.Shift(function.Expectargs)
+		}
+
+		// save result
+		c.stack.Push(res)
+
+		// thanks a lot
+		c.SetHistory(funcname, args)
+		return res, nil
+	}
+
+	// should not happen, if it does: programmer fault!
+	return -1, errors.New("heck, no such function")
+}