The equation 2wcubed. Do you cube w first then multiply by 2 or do you multiply w times 2 first and then cube the sum?

If it is written as

2w^3, then w is cubed, then multiplied by 2

if it is written as (2w)^2 , then w is multiplied by 2 and then the product , (not the sum) , is cubed

e.g. if w = 4
2w^3 = 2(64) = 128
(2w)^3 = 8^3 = 512