Medium data structure and algorithm practice puzzle.
Given a and b, return a to the power b. Start at 1 and multiply by a, b times. Anything to the power 0 is 1. That's O(b). As a follow-up, look up exponentiation by squaring, which halves the exponent each step and gets there in O(log b).
Solve it three ways: snap the jigsaw pieces together, fill in the blanks, or type it from scratch against the tests. This one is free.
Every line of the solution comes with a note explaining why it is there, and a step by step replay shows the code running. At level 3, where you type it yourself, you can ask for an AI mock interview on this problem that ends with a hiring manager's scorecard.
Then grow it into a real project with the Software Engineer button: this puzzle becomes the Reading Smoothing Rig, a pipeline you can run and download. See every Software Engineer project.
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