While
2^-1^-2
returns 4, which indicates a "left to right" evaluation order (as it is common in many programming languages),
2^-1^-2^3
returns 0.125, which I find surprising – I would have expected a value of 4^3 = 64.
To examine the order applied by Matlab, I tried all possible combinations:
((2^-1)^-2)^3 % returns 64 (1st, then 2nd operator)
(2^-1)^-(2^3) % returns 256 (1st and 3rd)
(2^-(1^-2))^3 % returns 0.125 (2nd, then 1st)
2^-((1^-2)^3) % returns 0.5 (2nd, then 3rd)
2^-(1^-(2^3)) % returns 0.5 (3rd, then 2nd)
So it seems that Matlab first evaluates the 2nd operator, then the 1st (=left), then the 3rd (=rightmost). That seems very odd. Can anybody explain why Matlab chooses this evaluation order?

I’m aware of https://de.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/operator-precedence.html, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. According to the rules given there, the 3rd operator (^) in my example should even come first, as it has a higher precedence than the other two (^-) operators. So doesn’t Matlab adhere to its own rules?While
2^-1^-2
returns 4, which indicates a "left to right" evaluation order (as it is common in many programming languages),
2^-1^-2^3
returns 0.125, which I find surprising – I would have expected a value of 4^3 = 64.
To examine the order applied by Matlab, I tried all possible combinations:
((2^-1)^-2)^3 % returns 64 (1st, then 2nd operator)
(2^-1)^-(2^3) % returns 256 (1st and 3rd)
(2^-(1^-2))^3 % returns 0.125 (2nd, then 1st)
2^-((1^-2)^3) % returns 0.5 (2nd, then 3rd)
2^-(1^-(2^3)) % returns 0.5 (3rd, then 2nd)
So it seems that Matlab first evaluates the 2nd operator, then the 1st (=left), then the 3rd (=rightmost). That seems very odd. Can anybody explain why Matlab chooses this evaluation order?

I’m aware of https://de.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/operator-precedence.html, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. According to the rules given there, the 3rd operator (^) in my example should even come first, as it has a higher precedence than the other two (^-) operators. So doesn’t Matlab adhere to its own rules? While
2^-1^-2
returns 4, which indicates a "left to right" evaluation order (as it is common in many programming languages),
2^-1^-2^3
returns 0.125, which I find surprising – I would have expected a value of 4^3 = 64.
To examine the order applied by Matlab, I tried all possible combinations:
((2^-1)^-2)^3 % returns 64 (1st, then 2nd operator)
(2^-1)^-(2^3) % returns 256 (1st and 3rd)
(2^-(1^-2))^3 % returns 0.125 (2nd, then 1st)
2^-((1^-2)^3) % returns 0.5 (2nd, then 3rd)
2^-(1^-(2^3)) % returns 0.5 (3rd, then 2nd)
So it seems that Matlab first evaluates the 2nd operator, then the 1st (=left), then the 3rd (=rightmost). That seems very odd. Can anybody explain why Matlab chooses this evaluation order?

I’m aware of https://de.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/operator-precedence.html, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. According to the rules given there, the 3rd operator (^) in my example should even come first, as it has a higher precedence than the other two (^-) operators. So doesn’t Matlab adhere to its own rules? power operator, precedence level, evaluation order, ^- MATLAB Answers — New Questions

​