Question

Mooc question:
Hi, having trouble solving week 2, section 1.8, nr. 3:

"Write a program using a for loop that calculates exponentials. Your program should ask the user for a base base and an exponent exp, and calculate base**exp."

I don't see why I should use a for loop here and not an if statement

thanks
susan

Answer 1

Exponents are basically iterative multiplications. base**2 is the same as base * base. base**3 is the same as base * base * base. Since it's iterative, a loop to iterate through it is the normal choice.

Answer 2

Thanks. Now I get it, they want me to avoid base**exp :-)