GIF data block formula

In the GIF specification here:

http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt

It gives the clear-code formula of:

2** codesize

Mathematically speaking, what does the above formula mean?

Sorry, I had to re-open this question given that 2 to the power of 4 is apparently 8, but the example given in the GIF specification states 16 as the answer to their formula:

example if the code size indicated was 4 (image was 4 bits/pixel) the Clear code value would be 16 (10000 binary)开发者_StackOverflow社区.

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It means 2 raised to the power of codesize. The ** notation for exponentiation comes from FORTRAN, I believe.