Problem 60232. Spreadsheet Column Number

Spreadsheet uses an alphabetic naming system for columns, starting with 'A', 'B', 'C', etc. The column names continue like 'AB', etc.
Given a string representing a column title in a spreadsheet, determine its corresponding column number. In spreadsheets, columns are labeled using a base-26 system with 'digits' A-Z, where 'A' represents 1 and 'Z' represents 26. Following this, two-letter columns start with 'AA' as 27 and continue until 'ZZ' as 702, and so forth.
Examples:
  • column_number('A') returns 1: In a spreadsheet, the first column is labeled 'A', which corresponds to 1 in the numbering system.
  • column_number('Z') returns 26: The last single-letter column in a spreadsheet is 'Z', which corresponds to 26.
  • column_number('AB') returns 28: This represents a two-letter column. 'A' corresponds to 1 and 'B' corresponds to 2. So, it's 26 (A) + 2 (B) = 28.
  • column_number('AZ') returns 52: 'A' corresponds to 1 and 'Z' corresponds to 26. So, it's 26 (A) + 26 (Z) = 52.
  • column_number('BA') returns 53: The first letter 'B' corresponds to 2, and the second letter 'A' corresponds to 1. So, it's 26 * 2 (B) + 1 (A) = 53.
  • column_number('BZ') returns 78: The first letter 'B' corresponds to 2, and the second letter 'Z' corresponds to 26. So, it's 26 * 2 (B) + 26 (Z) = 78.
  • column_number('ZY') returns 701: The first letter 'Z' corresponds to 26, and the second letter 'Y' corresponds to 25. So, it's 26 * 26 (Z) + 25 (Y) = 701.
Solve

Solution Stats

90.91% Correct | 9.09% Incorrect
Last Solution submitted on Sep 12, 2025

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