Programming Riddle: How might you translate an Excel column name to a number?

Question

I was recently asked in a job interview to resolve a programming puzzle that I thought it would be interesting to share. It\'s about translating Excel column letters to actu

Answer 1

Coincidentally I've solved the same problem using javascript

$(function() { //shorthand document.ready function
    var getNumber = function(x) {
        var result = 0;
        var multiplier = 1;
        for ( var i = x.length-1; i >= 0; i--)
        { 
            var value = ((x[i].charCodeAt(0) - "A".charCodeAt(0)) + 1);
            result = result + value * multiplier;
            multiplier = multiplier * 26;
        }
        return result;
    };
    
    $('#form').on('submit', function(e) { //use on if jQuery 1.7+
        e.preventDefault();  //prevent form from submitting
        var data = $("#number").val();
        $('#answer').text(getNumber(data));
    });
});

    submit

    var getNumber = function(x) {
        var result = 0;
        var multiplier = 1;
        for ( var i = x.length-1; i >= 0; i--)
        { 
            var value = ((x[i].charCodeAt(0) - "A".charCodeAt(0)) + 1);
            result = result + value * multiplier;
            multiplier = multiplier * 26;
        }
        return result;
    };

http://jsfiddle.net/M7Xty/1/