CCipher

Problem:

TopCoder Problem Statement - CCipher

Overview:

A simple Caesar cipher.  Take the String given by 'cipherText' and shift each character over by the amount in 'shift'.

Java Source:

01: /*
02: TopCoder
03: Single Round Match: 147
04: Division: 2
05: Level: 1
06: Points: 250
07: Description: http://community.topcoder.com/stat?c=problem_statement&pm=1667
08:  */
09: 
10: public class CCipher {
11: 
12:     public String decode(String cipherText, int shift) {
13: 
14:         char[] chArray = cipherText.toCharArray();
15: 
16:         for (int i = 0; i < chArray.length; i++) {
17: 
18:             int c = chArray[i] - shift;
19:             
20:             // If before 'A' - wrap around to the end.
21:             if (c < 'A') {
22:                 c += 26;
23:             }
24: 
25:             chArray[i] = (char) c;
26:         }
27: 
28:         return new String(chArray);
29:     }
30: }

Notes:

When working with the individual characters in a String, it’s usually easier to convert them to a character array (line 14).

You can use the + and - operators on characters.

Lines 21-23 handle the case where we wrap around the end of the alphabet.

Thank you for taking the time to read this solution. I welcome any feedback you may have.