is the `pow` function slower than doing manual multiplication?

# random

[Ray Rahke]

is the pow function slower than doing manual multiplication?

[Tim McCormack]

That's the sort of thing you'd want to just run through a performance test.

[Tim McCormack]

(Both to find out which is faster and, more importantly, to find out if there's even a performance issue to solve.)

[Tim McCormack]

In the case of pow with a constant exponent, the compiler may even optimize it for you using square-and-multiply.