Javascript array weirdness : ar[0] * ar[0] != ar[0] ^ 2

Asked Apr 06 '14 at 06:53

Active Apr 06 '14 at 06:57

Viewed 72 times

I just came across an issue that I can't quite explain:

> num = [1,2,3,4,5]
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
> num[0]
1
> num[0] ^ 2
3
> num[0] * num[0]
1

What is going on here?? what if I needed to take my array number to a larger power this would get quite verbose. Why won't the ^ work?? obviously 1^2 != 3

Thanks for any help

asked Apr 06 '14 at 06:53

JizoSaves

7

That's not what the `^` does. You need to use `Math.pow(num[0], 2)` – tewathia Apr 06 '14 at 06:54
4

That's a bitwise XOR, not an exponent operator. – Qantas 94 Heavy Apr 06 '14 at 06:54
1

[Bitwise XOR](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Bitwise_Operators) – mplungjan Apr 06 '14 at 06:55
1

In base 2, decimal 1 = 001 and decimal 2 = 010. So 1^2 = 001 XOR 010 = 011 = decimal 3 – Paul Apr 06 '14 at 06:59
Thanks for the clarification . I was looking for the Math.pow function ... Thanks for entertaining my noob question. – JizoSaves Apr 06 '14 at 17:18

Javascript array weirdness : ar[0] * ar[0] != ar[0] ^ 2

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