Lesson-11 Hash table – Class Notes
A hashtable (or hash table) is a data structure that implements an associative array, a
structure that can map keys to values. It uses a hash function to compute an index into an
array of buckets or slots, from which the desired value can be found.
Array we follow index based approach to store and retrieve. Index is int value
Hash Table concept
Index based approach - index identified using some hashcode
To store on data in to the table you need to know two things
1. Key
2. Find index to store hashcode of the key % table size
Key is an object type
Key is an integer you can directly apply key % Tablesize
Key is an object you can apply Math.abs(key.hashCode()) % tablesize
Advantages
• Fast Insertion and deletion, retrieval
Disadvantages & Key Points
• You cannot do sorting
• Always you need a table capacity
• Prefer table capacity as prime number
• Declare the table capacity with more than (25%) of the expected
requirements
• Deal any one of the Collision Techniques (Linear Probing, Quadratic,
Double hashing or Separate chaining)
Collision:
• A collision occurs when two different keys are hashed to the same index or
location in the underlying array.
• In other words, the hash function generates the same hash value for two
distinct keys, causing both keys to be mapped to the same slot in the array.
Common strategies to handle collisions include:
1. Chaining: Each slot in the array points to a linked list of entries that hash to the same
index. When a collision occurs, the new entry is simply added to the linked list at that
slot. In Java's API HashMap, if the size of one of these linked lists gets to be too large
(default = 8), the linked list is converted to a red-black tree for the efficient operations.
https://yongdanielliang.github.io/animation/web/SeparateChaining.html
2. Open Addressing: When a collision occurs, the hash table looks for another empty
slot within the array to store the new entry. This is done through various probing
techniques such as linear probing, quadratic probing, or double hashing.
https://yongdanielliang.github.io/animation/web/LinearProbing.html
https://yongdanielliang.github.io/animation/web/QuadraticProbing.html
https://liveexample.pearsoncmg.com/dsanimation/DoubleHashingeBook.html
Hash based Java APIs
1. HashSet - Set Interface
2. Hashmap - Map Interface
3. Hashtable - Map Interface
First Rule About Creating Keys for a Hashtable: To use an object as a key in hashtable,
you must override equals() and hashCode().
Creating Unmodifiable Collection
https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/core/creating-immutable-lists-sets-and-
maps.html#GUID-1222F8A3-7EC0-4E49-9B75-C3B263F9A1BB
JDK 8: Uses Collections.unmodifiableXXX methods. Requires creating a modifiable
collection first and then wrapping it in an unmodifiable wrapper.
JDK 9 and Later: Uses new factory methods like List.of, Set.of, and Map.of. These
methods directly create unmodifiable collections, simplifying the creation process and
reducing boilerplate code.
Advantages: Thread Safety, Immutability, and Security.
Refer: lesson11.unmodifiablecollection
