Linear Probing - Dictionary Operation in Constant Time

Dictionary Operation in Constant Time

Using linear probing, dictionary operation can be implemented in constant time. In other words, insert, remove and find operations can be implemented in O(1), as long as the load factor of the hash table is a constant strictly less than one. This analysis makes the (unrealistic) assumption that the hash function is completely random, but can be extended also to 5-independent hash functions. Weaker properties, such as universal hashing, are not strong enough to ensure the constant-time operation of linear probing, but one practical method of hash function generation, tabulation hashing, again leads to a guaranteed constant expected time performance despite not being 5-independent.

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