How can I multiply and divide using only bit shifting and adding?
To multiply in terms of adding and shifting you want to decompose one of the numbers by powers of two, like so:
21 * 5 = 10101_2 * 101_2 (Initial step)
= 10101_2 * (1 * 2^2 + 0 * 2^1 + 1 * 2^0)
= 10101_2 * 2^2 + 10101_2 * 2^0
= 10101_2 << 2 + 10101_2 << 0 (Decomposed)
= 10101_2 * 4 + 10101_2 * 1
= 10101_2 * 5
= 21 * 5 (Same as initial expression)
(_2 means base 2)
As you can see, multiplication can be decomposed into adding and shifting and back again. This is also why multiplication takes longer than bit shifts or adding - it's O(n^2) rather than O(n) in the number of bits. Real computer systems (as opposed to theoretical computer systems) have a finite number of bits, so multiplication takes a constant multiple of time compared to addition and shifting. If I recall correctly, modern processors, if pipelined properly, can do multiplication just about as fast as addition, by messing with the utilization of the ALUs (arithmetic units) in the processor.