Hashing, Hash Data Structure and Hash Table

Hashing is the process of mapping large amount of data item to a smaller table with the help of a hashing function. The essence of hashing is to facilitate the next level searching method when compared with the linear or binary search. The advantage of this searching method is its efficiency to hand vast amount of data items in a given collection (i.e. collection size).

Due to this hashing process, the result is a Hash data structure that can store or retrieve data items in an average time disregard to the collection size.

Hash Table is the result of storing the hash data structure in a smaller table which incorporates the hash function within itself. The Hash Function primarily is responsible to map between the original data item and the smaller table itself. Here the mapping takes place with the help of an output integer in a consistent range produced when a given data item (any data type) is provided for storage and this output integer range determines the location in the smaller table for the data item. In terms of implementation, the hash table is constructed with the help of an array and the indices of this array are associated to the output integer range.

Hash Table Example :
Here, we construct a hash table for storing and retrieving data related to the citizens of a county and the social-security number of citizens are used as the indices of the array implementation (i.e. key). Let's assume that the table size is 12, therefore the hash function would be Value modulus of 12.

Hence, the Hash Function would equate to:
(sum of numeric values of the characters in the data item) %12
Note! % is the modulus operator

Let us consider the following social-security numbers and produce a hashcode:
120388113D => 1+2+0+3+8+8+1+1+3+13=40
Hence, (40)%12 => Hashcode=4

310181312E => 3+1+0+1+8+1+3+1+2+14=34
Hence, (34)%12 => Hashcode=10

041176438A => 0+4+1+1+7+6+4+3+8+10=44
Hence, (44)%12 => Hashcode=8

Therefore, the Hashtable content would be as follows:
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0:empty
1:empty
2:empty
3:empty
4:occupied Name:Drew Smith SSN:120388113D
5:empty
6:empty
7:empty
8:occupied Name:Andy Conn SSN:041176438A
9:empty
10:occupied Name:Igor Barton SSN:310181312E
11:empty
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