Power Function Without Built-ins | Dataford Interview Questions

Antino Labs services may need fast numeric transformations without relying on built-in exponentiation. Implement a function that returns x raised to the integer power n, without using pow(), **, or any other built-in power function.

Use exponentiation by squaring so the algorithm remains efficient for very large exponents. If n is negative, return the reciprocal of x raised to -n.

Formal Specification

Input: A numeric value x and a signed integer n.
Output: A numeric value equal to x^n.
The result for n = 0 must be 1, including when x = 0.
Inputs will not request 0 raised to a negative power.

Constraints

-100 <= x <= 100
x may be an integer or floating-point number
-2^31 <= n <= 2^31 - 1
x != 0 when n < 0
Do not use pow(), **, or logarithm-based formulas

Function Signature

def power(x, n):

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