Data Structures & Algorithms July 28, 2020 3 min read

Leetcode Integer to Roman Java Solution

// SOLVING THIS WITH AN AI ASSISTANT (2026)

If you are working through this problem with an AI coding assistant — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor chat, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Aider, or any agent — the goal isn’t to ask for the answer. It is to use the tool to understand the pattern. The prompt sequence I’d run:

Spec it back to me first. “In your own words, what is this problem actually testing? What’s the smallest example that fails the naive approach?”
Brute-force first, optimize after. “Write the simplest correct solution, even if it’s O(n²). Don’t optimize. Just make it correct, with comments explaining each step.”
Ask for the upgrade. “Now show me the optimal solution. What insight makes it possible? What pattern is this an instance of?”
Stress-test it. “Generate 10 edge cases — empty input, single element, duplicates, max size, sorted, reverse-sorted. Run my solution against each.”

The pattern matters more than the answer. If the agent just hands you optimized code, you’ve trained yourself to lose interviews.

Roman numerals are represented by seven different symbols: I, V, X, L, C, D and M.

Symbol       Value
I             1
V             5
X             10
L             50
C             100
D             500
M             1000

For example, two is written as II in Roman numeral, just two one’s added together. Twelve is written as, XII, which is simply X + II. The number twenty seven is written as XXVII, which is XX + V + II.

Roman numerals are usually written largest to smallest from left to right. However, the numeral for four is not IIII. Instead, the number four is written as IV. Because the one is before the five we subtract it making four. The same principle applies to the number nine, which is written as IX. There are six instances where subtraction is used:

I can be placed before V (5) and X (10) to make 4 and 9.
X can be placed before L (50) and C (100) to make 40 and 90.
C can be placed before D (500) and M (1000) to make 400 and 900.

Given an integer, convert it to a roman numeral. Input is guaranteed to be within the range from 1 to 3999.

Example 1:

Input: 3
Output: "III"

Example 2:

Input: 4
Output: "IV"

Example 3:

Input: 9
Output: "IX"

Example 4:

Input: 58
Output: "LVIII"
Explanation: L = 50, V = 5, III = 3.

Example 5:

Input: 1994
Output: "MCMXCIV"
Explanation: M = 1000, CM = 900, XC = 90 and IV = 4.

Solution:

class HackerHeap {
    int[] values = {1000, 900, 500, 400, 100, 90, 50, 40, 10, 9, 5, 4, 1};    
    String[] symbols = {"M","CM","D","CD","C","XC","L","XL","X","IX","V","IV","I"};
    public String intToRoman(int num) {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    // Loop through each symbol, stopping if num becomes 0.
    for (int i = 0; i < values.length && num >= 0; i++) {
        // Repeat while the current symbol still fits into num.
        while (values[i] <= num) {
            num -= values[i];
            sb.append(symbols[i]);
        }
    }
  return sb.toString();
    }
}

For the AI-native engineering side of HackerHeap — building MCP servers, comparing agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Gemini, Copilot), and weekly working code — see the Friday Build newsletter and the MCP archive.