If the two numbers each have N digits, that's N 2 (or N x N) multiplications altogether. In the example above, N is 3, and we had to do 3 2 = 9 multiplications.

Mathematicians have reportedly discovered a new way of multiplying two numbers together. The new technique is for really large numbers, and if it passes a peer-review, could be the fastest ...

Indeed, when it comes to multiplying two numbers, the best (or fastest) way to do it is often far from obvious. One particularly intriguing and efficient multiplication algorithm was developed in ...