Objective

Implement a function that raises base to the power exp by recursion, with two base cases: an exp of 0 gives 1, and a negative exp gives -1.

Steps

• Write power recursively: power(base, exp) is base * power(base, exp - 1).
• The base case is exp equal to 0. It returns 1 for any base, power(0, 0) included.
• A base of 0 with a positive exp returns 0. A base of 1 returns 1 for every valid exponent.
• With a negative base and a positive exp, the result is positive when exp is even and negative when exp is odd.
• Every test stays inside the range of an int. The contract says nothing about what happens past that limit, so no overflow check is expected.
• A negative exp is outside the domain: return -1.

Objective

Implement a function that raises base to the power exp by recursion, with two base cases: an exp of 0 gives 1, and a negative exp gives -1.

Steps

• Write power recursively: power(base, exp) is base * power(base, exp - 1).
• The base case is exp equal to 0. It returns 1 for any base, power(0, 0) included.
• A base of 0 with a positive exp returns 0. A base of 1 returns 1 for every valid exponent.
• With a negative base and a positive exp, the result is positive when exp is even and negative when exp is odd.
• Every test stays inside the range of an int. The contract says nothing about what happens past that limit, so no overflow check is expected.
• A negative exp is outside the domain: return -1.