Various methods and systems for implementing Reed Solomon multiplication sections from exclusive-OR (XOR) logic are disclosed. For example, a system includes a Reed Solomon multiplication section, which includes XOR-based logic. The XOR-based logic includes an input, an output, and one or more XOR gates. A symbol X is received at the input of the XOR-based logic. The one or more XOR gates are coupled to generate a product of a power of α and X at the output, wherein α is a root of a primitive polynomial of a Reed Solomon code. Such a Reed Solomon multiplication section, which can include one or more multipliers implemented using XOR-based logic, can be included in a Reed Solomon encoder or decoder.