Disallow the use of Math.pow in favor of the ** operator (prefer-exponentiation-operator)

The --fix option on the command line can automatically fix some of the problems reported by this rule.

Introduced in ES2016, the infix exponentiation operator ** is an alternative for the standard Math.pow function.

Infix notation is considered to be more readable and thus more preferable than the function notation.

Rule Details

This rule disallows calls to Math.pow and suggests using the ** operator instead.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

/*eslint prefer-exponentiation-operator: "error"*/

const foo = Math.pow(2, 8);

const bar = Math.pow(a, b);

let baz = Math.pow(a + b, c + d);

let quux = Math.pow(-1, n);

Examples of correct code for this rule:

/*eslint prefer-exponentiation-operator: "error"*/

const foo = 2 ** 8;

const bar = a ** b;

let baz = (a + b) ** (c + d);

let quux = (-1) ** n;

When Not To Use It

This rule should not be used unless ES2016 is supported in your codebase.

Further Reading

• MDN Arithmetic Operators - Exponentiation
• Issue 5848: Exponentiation operator ** has different results for numbers and variables from 50 upwards

Version

This rule was introduced in ESLint 6.7.0.

Resources

• Rule source
• Documentation source