Hash Table

   Today, I am going to explain about hash tables. If you are still confused about hashing, you can go and check my "Hashing and Binary Tree" post/blog. Well then, let's get started.

   Hash table is a data structure that stores data in an associative manner. In a hash table, data is stored in an array format, where each data value has its own unique index value. Access of data becomes very fast if we know the index of the desired data. Thus, it becomes a data structure in which insertion and search operations are very fast irrespective of the size of the data. Hash table uses an array as a storage medium and uses the hash technique to generate an index where an element is to be inserted or is to be located.

   The hashing technique may be used to create an already used index of the array. In such a case, we can search the next empty location in the array by looking into the next cell until we find an empty cell. This technique is called linear probing. Example:

Sr.No.	Key	Hash	Array Index	After Linear Probing, Array Index
1	1	1 % 20 = 1	1	1
2	2	2 % 20 = 2	2	2
3	42	42 % 20 = 2	2	3
4	4	4 % 20 = 4	4	4
5	12	12 % 20 = 12	12	12
6	14	14 % 20 = 14	14	14
7	17	17 % 20 = 17	17	17
8	13	13 % 20 = 13	13	13
9	37	37 % 20 = 17	17	18

    Following are basic primary operations of a hash table:

• Search: Searches an element in a hash table. Whenever an element is to be searched, compute the hash code of the key passed and locate the element using that hash code as index in the array. Use linear probing to get the element ahead if the element is not found at the computed hash code. Example:

struct DataItem *search(int key) {
   //get the hash
   int hashIndex = hashCode(key);
 
   //move in array until an empty
   while(hashArray[hashIndex] != NULL) {
 
      if(hashArray[hashIndex]->key == key)
         return hashArray[hashIndex];
   
      //go to next cell
      ++hashIndex;
  
      //wrap around the table
      hashIndex %= SIZE;
   }

   return NULL;        
}

• Insert: Inserts an element in a hash table. Whenever an element is to be inserted, compute the hash code of the key passed and locate the index using that hash code as an index in the array. Use linear probing for empty location, if an element is found at the computed hash code. Example:

void insert(int key,int data) {
   struct DataItem *item = (struct DataItem*) malloc(sizeof(struct DataItem));
   item->data = data;  
   item->key = key;     

   //get the hash 
   int hashIndex = hashCode(key);

   //move in array until an empty or deleted cell
   while(hashArray[hashIndex] != NULL && hashArray[hashIndex]->key != -1) {
      //go to next cell
      ++hashIndex;
  
      //wrap around the table
      hashIndex %= SIZE;
   }
 
   hashArray[hashIndex] = item;        
}

• Delete: Deletes an element from a hash table. Whenever an element is to be deleted, compute the hash code of the key passed and locate the index using that hash code as an index in the array. Use linear probing to get the element ahead if an element is not found at the computed hash code. When found, store a dummy item there to keep the performance of the hash table intact. Example:

struct DataItem* delete(struct DataItem* item) {
   int key = item->key;

   //get the hash 
   int hashIndex = hashCode(key);

   //move in array until an empty 
   while(hashArray[hashIndex] !=NULL) {
 
      if(hashArray[hashIndex]->key == key) {
         struct DataItem* temp = hashArray[hashIndex]; 
   
         //assign a dummy item at deleted position
         hashArray[hashIndex] = dummyItem; 
         return temp;
      } 
  
      //go to next cell
      ++hashIndex;
  
      //wrap around the table
      hashIndex %= SIZE;
   }  
 
   return NULL;        
}

   Also, I would like to compare hash tables and search trees. Hash tables are faster in most cases but can be very bad at their worst. While search trees have many advantages, including tame worst-case behavior, but are somewhat slower in typical cases
.