Hash Tables and Collision Resolution Strategies
Students will understand how variables are used to store and retrieve different types of data (numbers, text) in a program.
About This Topic
Students will understand how variables are used to store and retrieve different types of data (numbers, text) in a program.
Key Questions
- Compare separate chaining and open addressing (linear probing, quadratic probing, double hashing) as collision resolution strategies, analysing how each affects worst-case and average-case lookup time as load factor increases.
- Derive the expected number of probes for a successful search under uniform hashing with open addressing and explain the significance of the load factor threshold for rehashing.
- Design and evaluate a hash function for a given key domain, justifying its distribution properties and explaining how a poor hash function can cause worst-case O(n) performance.
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