Problem 17 - How many letters would be needed to write all the numbers in words from 1 to 1000?

  If the numbers 1 to 5 are written out in words: one, two, three, four, five, then there are 3 + 3 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 19 letters used in total.

If all the numbers from 1 to 1000 (one thousand) inclusive were written out in words, how many letters would be used?

NOTE: Do not count spaces or hyphens. For example, 342 (three hundred and forty-two) contains 23 letters and 115 (one hundred and fifteen) contains 20 letters. The use of "and" when writing out numbers is in compliance with British usage.

First, I just want to write out the numbers in words as following.

	// some numbers converted to letters is only one word.
	static String[] single = { "zero", "one", "two", "three", "four",
			"five", "six", "seven", "eight", "nine", "ten",
			"eleven", "twelve", "thirteen", "fourteen", "fifteen",
			"sixteen", "seventeen", "eighteen", "nineteen" };
	// the tens place
	static String[] tensPlace = { "", "", "twenty", "thirty", "forty",
			"fifty", "sixty", "seventy", "eighty", "ninety" };

	static String hun = " hundred";

	static String thou = "one thousand";

	public static String num2Eng(int num) {
		StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
		// if num equals 1000, return one thousand
		if (num == 1000) {
			return thou;
		}

		if (num / 100 > 0) {
			// if the number is larger than 100, the words should
			// start with *** hundred
			sb.append(single[num / 100] + hun);

			// if the last two digits is larger than 0, the
			if (num % 100 > 0) {

				// the words would be appended "and"
				sb.append(" and ");
			}
		}

		// if the last two digits is larger than 20
		if (num % 100 >= 20) {
			// the word should be appended tens place, twenty,
			// thirty, forty and so on.
			sb.append(tensPlace[num / 10 % 10]);
			// if the last digit is lager than 0
			if (num % 10 > 0) {
				// the word should be appended the word
				sb.append(" " + single[num % 10]);
			}
		} else if (num % 100 > 0) {// if the last two digits is
						// between 10 and 20,they are
						// single word.
			sb.append(single[num % 100]);
		}
		return sb.toString();
	}

Then, the result for this problem is out naturally. u can consult the logic in above code.

	private static int[] singleWord = { 4, 3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 6,
			6, 8, 8, 7, 7, 9, 8, 8 };
	private static int[] tensPlaceWord = { 0, 0, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 7, 6, 6 };
	private static int hunWord = 7;
	private static int thouWord = 11;

	public static int countLetters(int num) {
		int count = 0;
		if (num == 1000) {
			return thouWord;
		}

		if (num / 100 > 0) {
			count += singleWord[num / 100] + hunWord;
			if (num % 100 > 0) {
				count += 3;
			}
		}

		if (num % 100 >= 20) {
			// sb.append(tensPlace[num / 10 % 10]);
			count += tensPlaceWord[num / 10 % 10];
			if (num % 10 > 0) {
				// sb.append(" " + single[num % 10]);
				count += singleWord[num % 10];
			}
		} else if (num % 100 > 0) {
			// sb.append(single[num % 100]);
			count += singleWord[num % 100];
		}
		return count;
	}