How can I perform multiplication without the '*' operator?

Question

I was just going through some basic stuff as I am learning C. I came upon a question to multiply a number by 7 without using the * operator. Basically it\'s like this

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Answer 1

@Wang, that's a good generalization. But here is a slightly faster version. But it assumes no overflow and a is non-negative.

int mult(int a, int b){
    int p=1;
    int rv=0;
    for(int i=0; a >= p && i < 31; i++){
        if(a & p){
            rv += b;
        }
        p = p << 1;
        b = b << 1;
    }

    return rv;
}

It will loop at most 1+log_2(a) times. Could be faster if you swap a and b when a > b.

Answer 2

It is the same as x*8-x = x*(8-1) = x*7

Answer 3

Everyone is overlooking the obvious. No multiplication is involved:

10^(log10(A) + log10(B))

Answer 4

Any number, odd or even, can be expressed as a sum of powers of two. For example,

     1   2   4   8
------------------
 1 = 1
 2 = 0 + 2
 3 = 1 + 2
 4 = 0 + 0 + 4
 5 = 1 + 0 + 4
 6 = 0 + 2 + 4
 7 = 1 + 2 + 4
 8 = 0 + 0 + 0 + 8
11 = 1 + 2 + 0 + 8

So, you can multiply x by any number by performing the right set of shifts and adds.

 1x = x
 2x = 0 + x<<1
 3x = x + x<<1
 4x = 0 +  0   + x<<2
 5x = x +  0   + x<<2
11x = x + x<<1 +   0  + x<<3

Answer 5

import java.math.BigInteger;

public class MultiplyTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        BigInteger bigInt1 = new BigInteger("5");
        BigInteger bigInt2 = new BigInteger("8");
        System.out.println(bigInt1.multiply(bigInt2));
    }
}

Answer 6

public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.print("Enter value of A -> ");
    Scanner s=new Scanner(System.in);
    double j=s.nextInt();
    System.out.print("Enter value of B -> ");
    Scanner p=new Scanner(System.in);
    double k=p.nextInt();
    double m=(1/k);
    double l=(j/m);
    System.out.print("Multiplication of A & B=> "+l);
}