Exponentiation assignment (**=) - JavaScript | MDN

Try it

let a = 3;

console.log((a **= 2));
// Expected output: 9

console.log((a **= 0));
// Expected output: 1

console.log((a **= 'hello'));
// Expected output: NaN

Syntax

Description

x **= y is equivalent to x = x ** y, except that the expression x is only evaluated once.

Examples

Exponentiation assignment using numbers

js

let bar = 5;
bar **= 2; // 25

Other non-BigInt values are coerced to numbers:

js

let baz = 5;
baz **= "foo"; // NaN

Exponentiation assignment using BigInts

js

let foo = 3n;
foo **= 2n; // 9n
foo **= 1; // TypeError: Cannot mix BigInt and other types, use explicit conversions

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-assignment-operators

Browser compatibility

See also

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