public class Roman { private static int decodeSingle(char letter) { switch(letter) { case 'M': return 1000; case 'D': return 500; case 'C': return 100; case 'L': return 50; case 'X': return 10; case 'V': return 5; case 'I': return 1; default: return 0; } } public static int decode(String roman) { int result = 0; String uRoman = roman.toUpperCase(); //case-insensitive for(int i = 0;i < uRoman.length() - 1;i++) {//loop over all but the last character //if this character has a lower value than the next character if (decodeSingle(uRoman.charAt(i)) < decodeSingle(uRoman.charAt(i+1))) { //subtract it result -= decodeSingle(uRoman.charAt(i)); } else { //add it result += decodeSingle(uRoman.charAt(i)); } } //decode the last character, which is always added result += decodeSingle(uRoman.charAt(uRoman.length()-1)); return result; } public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println(decode("MCMXC")); //1990 System.out.println(decode("MMVIII")); //2008 System.out.println(decode("MDCLXVI")); //1666 } }