C/C : Why Use `pow()` Instead of `^` for Exponentiation?

Bitwise XOR vs. Power Operator

In C/C , the ^ operator performs a bitwise XOR operation, not exponentiation. To calculate powers, you should use the pow() function.

Possible Issue with pow()

If you are attempting to use pow() but it's not working as expected, it's likely due to an argument type mismatch. pow() takes double arguments by default, and if you are passing integers, you may need to cast them to double.

Example Fix

Here's a modified version of your code with the type cast applied:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>

void main(void) {
    int a;
    int result;
    int sum = 0;
    printf("Enter a number: ");
    scanf("%d", &a);
    for(int i = 1; i <= 4; i++) {
        result = (int) pow((double) a, i);
        sum += result;
    }
    printf("%d\n", sum);
}

Note that the pow() function will return a double, so I also cast the result to int to match the original code.

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