jamesroutley/write-a-hash-table
Write A Hash Table
This project is a pedagogical implementation of a hash table in C, built from scratch using open addressing and linear probing for collision resolution. It serves as a computer science algorithm demo, demonstrating how to construct a fundamental key-value store at a low level.
The implementation covers the core operations of an associative array: inserting a key-value pair, looking up a value by its key, and deleting a pair. It uses a hash function to compute storage locations, maps hash values to array indices with the modulo operator, and resolves collisions by scanning sequentially through a contiguous memory block for the next available slot.
The project walks through building an open-addressed hash map that stores all key-value pairs directly in a single, pre-allocated array, rejecting duplicate keys on insert and doing nothing when attempting to delete a non-existent key.
Features
- Computer Science Fundamentals - A pedagogical implementation of a fundamental hash table algorithm for educational purposes.
- Open Addressing Implementations - Stores all key-value pairs directly in a contiguous array, using probing to resolve collisions.
- Hash Tables - Walks through building an open-addressed, double-hashed hash table from scratch in C.
- Hash Table Operations - Implements insert, search, and delete operations for associative pairs in a hash table.
- Key-Value Stores - A low-level implementation of key-value pair storage, retrieval, and deletion using hash functions.
- Linear Probing Sequences - Resolves hash collisions by scanning sequentially through the array for the next available slot.
- Index Mapping Functions - Maps hash values to array indices using the modulo operator for in-bounds storage.
- Key Deletion Operations - Removes a key-value pair from an associative array by its key, doing nothing if the key does not exist.
- Key Insertion Operations - Inserts a key-value pair into an associative array, rejecting duplicate keys.
- Key Lookup Operations - Retrieves the value associated with a given key from an associative array, returning null if the key is absent.
- Core Systems and Utilities - Building a fundamental data structure to understand memory and collision handling.
- System Programming - Implementation guide for fundamental data structures.
- System Utilities - Implementation guide for fundamental data structures.
- Systems Programming - Learn to implement a hash table data structure.
- Systems Programming Projects - A tutorial on implementing a hash table from scratch.
