What is a collision in hashing?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for an explanation of what a collision is in the context of hashing. Hashing is a technique used in computer science to map data of arbitrary size to data of a fixed size. A collision occurs when two different inputs produce the same output hash value.
Answer
A collision in hashing is when different inputs result in the same hash value.
In hashing, a collision occurs when two distinct inputs produce the same hash value. Because a hash function maps a larger data set to a smaller one, collisions are unavoidable.
Answer for screen readers
In hashing, a collision occurs when two distinct inputs produce the same hash value. Because a hash function maps a larger data set to a smaller one, collisions are unavoidable.
More Information
Hash collisions are a common issue in computer science. They can cause performance issues in hash tables and security vulnerabilities if exploited.
Tips
It is a common misconception that good hash functions avoid collisions. Rather, good hash functions minimize collisions, because collisions are fundamentally unavoidable.
Sources
- Hash collision - Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
- Hash Collisions Explained | Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Technology - freemanlaw.com
- What is collision in a hash algorithm? - Quora - quora.com
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