That's one way of putting it, although (1) that assumes you're
writing in base 10; and (2) the factorization 2^3*7^2 is a much more
traditional way of representing 7*7*8.
Can't it be 8*8*8 or any other?
8*8*8 is 2^9, or 512 base 10. That's not 392 in any base.
Sorry. (Unless you're using a different meaning for *
than multiplication, of course.) It's just the way that
Western mathematical notation works.
I wonder whether the calculation sequence in such an expression is
specified in ansi c.
What sort of expression? 7*7*8? In that case, it really doesn't matter
which operation is done first. (ISO C does specify that most operations
of the same precedence take place from left to right, though.)
Try sci.math for questions about prime factorization.
-Arthur