Our last example involves an important task -- multiplying two integers. There are many subtleties involved, which we will try to steer clear of in this discussion.

Multiplication by 2 or powers of 2 can be accomplished easily by shifting to the left, i.e. towards the MSB (most significant bit). Multiplication by other numbers is harder, although it can be done by some interesting tricks. (See Section 16.4 for some of these tricks).