How do you do *integer* exponentiation in C#?

Question

The built-in Math.Pow() function in .NET raises a double base to a double exponent and returns a double result.

What's the best way to do the same with integers?

Added: It seems that one can just cast Math.Pow() result to (int), but will this always produce the correct number and no rounding errors?

Answer 1

A pretty fast one might be something like this:

int IntPow(int x, uint pow)
{
    int ret = 1;
    while ( pow != 0 )
    {
        if ( (pow & 1) == 1 )
            ret *= x;
        x *= x;
        pow >>= 1;
    }
    return ret;
}

Note that this does not allow negative powers. I'll leave that as an exercise to you. :)

Added: Oh yes, almost forgot - also add overflow/underflow checking, or you might be in for a few nasty surprises down the road.

Answer 2

Here's a blog post that explains the fastest way to raise integers to integer powers. As one of the comments points out, some of these tricks are built into chips.

Answer 3

Use double version, check for overflow (over max int or max long) and cast to int or long?

Answer 4

Using the math in John Cook's blog link,

    public static long IntPower(int x, short power)
    {
        if (power == 0) return 1;
        if (power == 1) return x;
        // ----------------------
        int n = 15;
        while ((power <<= 1) >= 0) n--;

        long tmp = x;
        while (--n > 0)
            tmp = tmp * tmp * 
                 (((power <<= 1) < 0)? x : 1);
        return tmp;
    }