Hash Function

A hash function is any algorithm or subroutine that maps large data sets of variable length, called keys, to smaller data sets of a fixed length. For example, a person's name, having a variable length, could be hashed to a single integer. The values returned by a hash function are called hash values, hash codes, hash sums, checksums or simply hashes.

Read more about Hash Function:  Descriptions, Hash Function Algorithms, Origins of The Term, List of Hash Functions

Famous quotes containing the word function:

    It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.
    Robert H. [Houghwout] Jackson (1892–1954)