I would have expected to find such a presentation presenting a problem which actually
requires a search of an intractably-large space ... and, since this one clearly doesn’t
It does for a golfer. :-)
The search is required to improve the
previous shortest known Python solution
by replacing the shortest known magic formula:
10**(205558%ord(r)%7)%9995
with a new one in this form:
hash(r+"magicstrng")%1001
which is one stroke shorter.
This is explained in more detail in the introductory "Lookup Table vs Magic Formula" section of
The 10**21 Problem (Part I).
But it would be a lot more interesting if the most-efficient algorithm
for solving the actual representative-problem were what is
presented “in the least number of keystrokes.”
The shortest algorithms for solving the Roman to Decimal conversion problem have already been presented in:
