1. hash function A hash coding function which assigns a data item distinguished by some "key" into one of a number of possible "hash buckets" in a hash table. The hash function is usually combined with another more precise function. For example a program might take a string of letters and put it in one of twenty six lists depending on its first letter. Ideally, a hash function should distribute items evenly between the buckets to reduce the number of hash collisions. If, for example, the strings were names beginning with "Mr. ", "Miss" or "Mrs. " then taking the first letter would be a very poor hash function because all names would hash the same.
hash function | one-way hash function |
