why doesn't c++ have an exponent operator?

Question

is there a reason? i know there's POW(), but that's a function. why doesn't it have ^ for exponents, when it seems like a very simple thing too add, that would be very convenient

Why everyone is having problem with `pow` :P `^` is **bit-wise exclusive OR** — P0W, Jan 27 '14 at 06:15
It's `pow`. POW would be a completely different thing (well, we can't be just things...). — Mark Garcia, Jan 27 '14 at 06:15
Because they didn't put it in. You would have to ask Bjarne Stroustrup or the C++ committee, or Dennis Ritchie or the C committee. Anything you get here will be just more or less uninformed guesswork. — user207421, Jan 27 '14 at 06:17
Highly speculative: There was no built in FPU available at design time — , Jan 27 '14 at 06:20
@DieterLücking On the contrary. The PDP-11 had a full array of FP instructions, and ditto the VAX. — user207421, Jan 27 '14 at 06:23
It is explained in *The Design and Evolution of C++*, ch.11.6.1. "The original reason was that C doesn't have one..." and more. — SChepurin, Jan 27 '14 at 07:21

Paul Evans · Answer 1 · 2014-01-27T06:28:09.090

0

C++'s operators are modeled after C's operators which in turn are modeled after general machine code instructions. The later have addition, subtraction, shift, and , or , xor etc. They can have multiplication and perhaps even division. All handle integers are handled and sometimes even floating-point numbers too. But it would extremely rare for exponentiation to have direct processor support. So it's never been thought of as (and so therefore wasnever made into) a builtin operator. Having said all that, there's left-shift << which exponentiates powers of 2.

edited Jan 27 '14 at 06:28

answered Jan 27 '14 at 06:17

Paul Evans

27,315
3
37
54

It isn't 'extremely rare'. The most commonly used processor family has had such an instruction for decades. I was using it on the PDP-11 in the 1970s, which is what C was built on. – user207421 Jan 27 '14 at 06:28

score -2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 06:16

-2

In some languages ^ is the sign of logical operation. I think is XOR operation.

So that is why you should use POW() in C++.

answered Jan 27 '14 at 06:16

pb77

47
9

2

So? They could use `**` like some languages do. – Barmar Jan 27 '14 at 06:17
1

More important than what it is in other languages is that it's also bitwise XOR in C/C++. – Frank Osterfeld Jan 27 '14 at 06:17
I saw that sneaky edit – Nic Robertson Jan 27 '14 at 06:17
Lol :) better edited than wrong. – pb77 Jan 27 '14 at 06:23
This really isn't a reason. -1 – user207421 Jan 27 '14 at 06:23
... So should I edit again and write it wrong? – pb77 Jan 27 '14 at 06:24
I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but you should give a reason that is at least plausible. – user207421 Jan 27 '14 at 06:25
Saying that the operator was already taken is not enough? – pb77 Jan 27 '14 at 06:27
No, it isn't enough. The operator *symbol* was taken, but, as @Barmar's comment indicates, there are other choices. – user207421 Jan 27 '14 at 06:30

why doesn't c++ have an exponent operator?

2 Answers2