Exponentiation operator precedence

[Steve Fink]

On 08/27/2015 11:20 AM, Ethan Resnick wrote:
> Long-time esdiscuss lurker; hopefully this perspective is helpful.
>
> I think the problem here is that traditional mathematic notation uses 
> visual cues to imply precedence that JS can't take advantage of. When 
> -3 ** 2 is written out on paper, the 2 is very clearly grouped 
> visually with the 3. In fact, the superscript almost makes the 2 feel 
> like an appendage of the 3. That makes it more natural to read it as 
> two items: the negative sign, and (3 ** 2).
>
> By contrast, when (-3 ** 2) is written out in code, the negative sign 
> is way closer visually to the 3 than the 2 is, so I find myself 
> instinctively pulling out a "-3" first and reading the expression as 
> (-3)**2.

If we're making ** bind tighter than unary -, then I would hope it would 
be written -3**2, not -3 ** 2. The latter is indeed deceptive.

For me, x**y**z is rare enough that I don't really care if ** is right 
associative or nonassociative. Parentheses are part of the cost you have 
to pay for rendering things as plain text -- and yet, I see no reason 
not to make x**y**z just do the right thing.