How to write a function that can calculate power in Java. No loops

Question

I\'ve been trying to write a simple function in Java that can calculate a number to the nth power without using loops.
I then found the Math.pow(a, b) class...

Answer 1

I think in Production recursion just does not provide high end performance.

double power(double num, int exponent)
{

double value=1;
int Originalexpn=exponent;
double OriginalNumber=num;

if(exponent==0)
    return value;

if(exponent<0)
{
    num=1/num;
    exponent=abs(exponent);
}

while(exponent>0)
{
    value*=num;
    --exponent;
}

cout << OriginalNumber << " Raised to  " << Originalexpn << " is " << value << endl;
return value;

}

Answer 2

Sure, create your own recursive function:

public static int repeat(int base, int exp) {
 if (exp == 1) {
  return base;
 }

 return base * repeat(base, exp - 1);
}

Math.pow(a, b)

Math is the class, pow is the method, a and b are the parameters.

Answer 3

A recursive method would be the easiest for this :

int power(int base, int exp) {
    if (exp != 1) {
        return (base * power(base, exp - 1));
    } else {
        return base;
    }
}

where base is the number and exp is the exponenet

Answer 4

Another implementation with O(Log(n)) complexity

public static long pow(long base, long exp){        
    if(exp ==0){
        return 1;
    }
    if(exp ==1){
        return base;
    }

    if(exp % 2 == 0){
        long half = pow(base, exp/2);
        return half * half;
    }else{
        long half = pow(base, (exp -1)/2);
        return base * half * half;
    }       
}

Answer 5

This one handles negative exponential:

public static double pow(double base, int e) {
    int inc;
    if(e <= 0) {
        base = 1.0 / base;
        inc = 1;
    }
    else {
        inc = -1;
    }
    return doPow(base, e, inc);
}

private static double doPow(double base, int e, int inc) {
    if(e == 0) {
        return 1;
    }
    return base * doPow(base, e + inc, inc);
}

Answer 6

Here is a O(log(n)) code that calculates the power of a number. Algorithmic technique used is divide and conquer. It also accepts negative powers i.e., x^(-y)

import java.util.Scanner;

public class PowerOfANumber{
        public static void main(String args[]){
                float result=0, base;
                int power;
                PowerOfANumber calcPower = new PowerOfANumber();
                /* Get the user input for the base and power */
                Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
                System.out.println("Enter the base");   
                base=input.nextFloat();
                System.out.println("Enter the power");
                power=input.nextInt();
                result = calcPower.calculatePower(base,power);
                System.out.println(base + "^" + power + " is " +result);
        }   
        private float calculatePower(float x, int y){ 
                float temporary;
                /* Termination condition for recursion */    
                if(y==0)
                        return 1;
                temporary=calculatePower(x,y/2);
                /* Check if the power is even */
                if(y%2==0)
                        return (temporary * temporary);
                else{
                        if(y>0)
                                return (x * temporary * temporary);
                        else
                                return (temporary*temporary)/x;
                }    
        }
}