Hashing

Computational thinking, problem-solving and programming

A hash function is any function that can be used to map data of arbitrary size to fixed-size values. The values returned by a hash function are called hash values, hash codes, digests, or simply hashes. The values are used to index a fixed-size table called a hash table. Use of a hash function to index a hash table is called hashing or scatter storage addressing.

Hashing is the transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string. Hashing is used to index and retrieve items in a database because it is faster to find the item using the shorter hashed key than to find it using the original value. It is also used in many encryption algorithms.

Simple Code sample

# this python file should be used as part of your process to understand hashing. 
# please change values so you can see how hashing works! 

myString = "Hello there"
print("Before Hash: ", myString)

myHashedString = hash(myString)
print("After Hash: ", myHashedString)

Videos

This video will give you a general introduction to hashing.

The video below helps us understand hashing within the context of blockchain.

Apply knowledge or rules to put theory into practice.

The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.