Exponentiation is the operation of raising a number to a power, like how Facebook's user base grew exponentially in the early days. It's a fundamental operation in math and programming, and if you don't understand it, you might as well be writing COBOL.

How to use it in a sentence

• I was trying to calculate 2^256 for my blockchain project, but the exponentiation overflowed my puny JavaScript number type.

• My tech lead said we need to worry about the time complexity of recursive exponentiation in our algorithm, but I'm pretty sure he's just trying to sound smart in front of the new intern.

If you actually want to learn more...

• Explanation of Exponential Sums: This article dives into the math behind exponential sums and how they can be used to draw some pretty trippy plots. Perfect for when you need to procrastinate on that bug fix.

• Find the Best Rational Fraction Approximation to a Decimal Number: If you ever need to approximate a decimal as a fraction (and who doesn't?), this handy calculator has you covered. Just don't ask me to explain the algorithm.

• Radix (Base) Conversion: Want to convert numbers between different bases? This tool makes it easy. Useful for when you're dealing with those pesky hex colors in CSS.

Note: the Developer Dictionary is in Beta. Please direct feedback to skye@statsig.com.