Exponentials in python x.**y vs math.pow(x, y)

Question

Which one is more efficient using math.pow or the ** operator? When should I use one over the other?

So far I know that x**y can return an int

Answer 1

The pow() function will allow you to add a third argument as a modulus.

For example: I was recently faced with a memory error when doing

2**23375247598357347582 % 23375247598357347583

Instead I did:

pow(2, 23375247598357347582, 23375247598357347583)

This returns in mere milliseconds instead of the massive amount of time and memory that the plain exponent takes. So, when dealing with large numbers and parallel modulus, pow() is more efficient, however when dealing with smaller numbers without modulus, ** is more efficient.