Why is ^ not squaring in Python? I know exponentiation is ** instead, but what exactly is ^ and why wasn't that operator used instead?
For example 2^2=0, 3^2=1.
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Raymond Hettinger
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2(Check out [the second answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/15194137/707111), specifically) – Ry- Feb 22 '18 at 23:22
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2`^` is the bitwise XOR operator. You want `**` for exponentiation. – Olivier Melançon Feb 22 '18 at 23:24
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2The intention was to make the transition to Python easier for old Fortran programmers. – Bill Bell Feb 23 '18 at 00:00
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1@BillBell Also C programmers. – shawnhcorey Feb 23 '18 at 14:33
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@shawnhcorey: Another good reason. – Bill Bell Feb 23 '18 at 20:53
2 Answers
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The ^ operator was already used for bitwise xor.
>>> x = 42; format(x, '08b')
'00101010'
>>> y = 137; format(y, '08b')
'10001001'
>>> z = x ^ y; format(z, '08b')
'10100011'
That leaves the old Fortran-style ** operator for exponentiation.
>>> base = 5
>>> exp = 2
>>> base ** exp
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Raymond Hettinger
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The "^" symbol in python is a bit-wise exclusive OR (XOR) operator. An OR gate is true if one of the inputs OR another is true. The XOR gate is true if and only if just a single input is true. 00 and 11 are false. 01 and 10 are true. The bit-wise XOR can be used to check how many bits differ.
For example,
- 2^2 = 10
- ^10
= 00
= 0
- ^10
- 3^2 = 11
- ^10
= 01
= 1
- ^10
Austin Mackillop
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