The following two functions return the same result:
x**2
x*x
But they may be computed in different ways. The first choice can accommodate
non-integer powers and so it would logically proceed by taking a logarithm,
multiplying by the power (in this case, 2), and then taking the anti-logarithm.
But for a trivial value for the power like 2, this is clearly a wasteful
choice. Just multiply x by itself, and skip the expensive log and anti-log
steps.
My question is, what do Python interpreters do with power operators where the
power is a small constant, like 2? Do they know to take the shortcut?
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