- // this loop computes the representation of k in base 2 and
- // multiplies the factors whenever needed:
+ // This loop computes the representation of k in base 2 from right
+ // to left(!) and multiplies the factors whenever needed. Note
+ // that this is not entirely optimal but close to optimal and
+ // "better" algorithms are much harder to implement. (See Knuth,
+ // TAoCP2, section "Evaluation of Powers" for a good discussion.)