Does Java have an exponential operator?

There is no operator, but there is a method.

Math.pow(2, 3) // 8.0

Math.pow(3, 2) // 9.0

FYI, a common mistake is to assume 2 ^ 3 is 2 to the 3rd power. It is not. The caret is a valid operator in Java (and similar languages), but it is binary xor.


To do this with user input:

public static void getPow(){
    Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
    System.out.println("Enter first integer: ");    // 3
    int first = sc.nextInt();
    System.out.println("Enter second integer: ");    // 2
    int second = sc.nextInt();
    System.out.println(first + " to the power of " + second + " is " + 
        (int) Math.pow(first, second));    // outputs 9

There is the Math.pow(double a, double b) method. Note that it returns a double, you will have to cast it to an int like (int)Math.pow(double a, double b).


The easiest way is to use Math library.

Use Math.pow(a, b) and the result will be a^b

If you want to do it yourself, you have to use for-loop

// Works only for b >= 1
public static double myPow(double a, int b){
    double res =1;
    for (int i = 0; i < b; i++) {
        res *= a;
    }
    return res;
}

Using:

double base = 2;
int exp = 3;
double whatIWantToKnow = myPow(2, 3);

you can use the pow method from the Math class. The following code will output 2 raised to 3 (8)

System.out.println(Math.pow(2, 3));