- Reverse-engineering the multiplication algorithm in the Intel 8086 processor (righto.com)
While programmers today take multiplication for granted, most microprocessors in the 1970s could only add and subtract — multiplication required a slow and tedious loop implemented in assembly code. One of the nice features of the Intel 8086 processor (1978) was that it provided machine instructions for multiplication, able to multiply 8-bit or 16-bit numbers with a single instruction. Internally, the 8086 still performed a loop, but the loop was implemented in microcode: faster and transparent to the programmer. Even so, multiplication was a slow operation, about 24 to 30 times slower than addition.
- Benjamin Netanyahu (Wikipedia)
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician, serving as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office in 1996–1999 and 2009–2021. He is chair of the Likud party. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, having served a total of over 16 years.