Having read this thread and seeing the various arguments for and against - here is an answer that should finalise this.
Regardless of everyone's ability or inability to operate their $5 calculator properly (that's an argument for another day!)
-2^2 , as written, is interpreted as (-2) ^ 2. The correct answer is 4.
That is not my opinion, that is fact. Clear as day, no argument. in this case (-2) is a number, just as 2 is.
Any debate on the correctness of it is not a debate of the maths, but of proponents ability to enter equations into their preferred mathematical software, or the ability of the software to interpret that equation.
Of course, if you enter (2^2) , then +/- you are going to get the answer (negative four).
And yes, 0-2^2 will be interpreted as "0 minus two squared", the correct answer will be "negative four". In this case, the "-" indicates "subtract", and the numbers in the equation are 0, 2 and 2.
However, the previous two equations are not equivalent to "-2^2".
The bottom line: there is no bug here.
Cheers, and yours in mathematica,
DK
