Program Challenge (was Re: z80 timing... 6502 timing) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

19 Apr 1999

...
 I must be missing something here.  9 does NOT produce
the longest string
< 10, 8 does.    (IX v VIII),  and 3999 isn't the longest string.

3888 would seem to produce:
       M M M D C C C L X X X V I I I   \0
which is 16 characters, including null.           
Which was the reason I said 3888 would probably take the longest
conversion time with my code...

...
 BTW, what comes after M?  Is it correct that in Roman
numerals there can
never be 4 consecutive occurences of the same letter?   (The original Y4M
"bug"!!!) 
Actually, I checked this in an old encyclopedia I had... both forms

	IX and VIIII

could be and were used...

As for what comes beyond it, a bar over the letters (called a
'vinculum') meant 'x 1000'.  So MMM and <bar>III</bar>
(meaning
a bar over all three letters) were both acceptable as indicating
3000.  Two bars indicated 'x 1000 x 1000'.

					Megan Gentry
					Former RT-11 Developer

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