a**b exponentiation

[Chris Nicholson-Sauls]

Deewiant wrote:
> Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:
>> 1. Put in an exponentiation operator, a^b or a**b, so that 2**3 is 8.
>> For a numerics programmer this would be really useful. This is one way
>> that Fortran really scores over C. I know that there is the pow function
>> in C, but it always treats the power as a float or double, where if the
>> power is an integer it should really work differently. Also the
>> optimization should be able to do clever things with a^2 (i.e. write it
>> as inline code a*a). Also, using "pow" is just plain ugly. I do
>> appreciate that a^b and a**b already have meaning in C (the first is
>> exclusive or, and the second is a*(*b)), but I think that this is
>> sufficiently worthwhile for numerics programmers that you either find a
>> whole new symbol, or depreciate the current use of ^ or ** (e.g. one
>> could insist that the current a**b is always written a* *b - I mean when
>> does a**b actually ever appear in real code?).
> 
> We have precedent for the problem of a**b: we already have ++a and a++, both of
> which can lead to similar problems. What does "a+++b" mean? Possibilities are
> "a++ + b" and "a + ++b". Also, "a++b" can be "a + +b", but parses as "a++ b", a
> syntax error.
> 

This is at least predictable because of the compiler's "maximal munch" 
policy: always grab the biggest hunk of source you can at one time.(The 
'a+++b' example would parse as 'a++ +b'.)

And I rather like the other proposed operator: ^^
Should be more clear, and more familiar since some languages already use 
'^' to mean power -- so long as it doesn't get confused with our 
existing '^' operator...

-- Chris Nicholson-Sauls