What are Hash Tables and how do they work?

As we saw with binary search, certain data structures such as a binary search tree can help improve the efficiency of searches. From linear search to binary search, we improved our search efficiency from O(n) to O(logn). We now present a new data structure, called a hash table, that will increase our efficiency to O(1), or constant time.

In computer science, a hash table, or a hash map, is a data structure that associates keys with values. The primary operation it supports efficiently is a lookup: given a key (e.g. a person’s name), find the corresponding value (e.g. that person’s telephone number). It works by transforming the key using a hash function into a hash, a number that is used to index into an array to locate the desired location (”bucket”) where the values should be.

Hash tables are often used to implement associative arrays, sets and caches. Like arrays, hash tables provide constant-time O(1) lookup on average, regardless of the number of items in the table. (O(1) means that it takes a constant amount of time independent of the number of items involved.) However, the rare worst-case lookup time can be as bad as O(n). Compared to other associative array data structures, hash tables are most useful when large numbers of records are to be stored, especially if the size of the data set can be predicted.

Hash tables may be used as in-memory data structures. Hash tables may also be adopted for use with persistent data structures; database indexes sometimes use disk-based data structures based on hash tables, although balanced trees are more popular.

//this program creates a hash table as a set of linked lists
// here 10 pointers are used to address 10 linked lists which form a hash tablw
#include
#include

int main()
{
int i,k,num;
struct node
{
int n;
struct node* next;
};

struct node *temp,*p1,*AOP[10];

for(i=0;i<10;i++)
AOP[i]= NULL;
for( i=0;i<20;i++)
{
scanf(“%d”, &num);
k=num%10;
p1=( struct node*) malloc ( sizeof(struct node));

p1->n=num;
p1->next=NULL;

if(AOP[k]==NULL)
AOP[k]=p1;
else
{
p1->next=AOP[k];
AOP[k]=p1;
}
}

for(i=0;i<10;i++)
{
temp=AOP[i];
printf(“List number %d :”, i);
while(temp!=NULL)
{
printf(“%5d”,temp->n);
temp=temp->next;
}
printf(“\n“);
}
}