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Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #17734

Re: hashCode

From Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid>
Newsgroups comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject Re: hashCode
Date 2012-08-12 12:23 -0400
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <k08la3$gr7$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References <563f186a-edb3-4311-ae48-3af7decfce2c@googlegroups.com> <k03d6p$2bt$1@dont-email.me> <6ac6c252-c370-4f74-b29d-ce5368019977@googlegroups.com>

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On 8/10/2012 6:22 PM, bob smith wrote:
> Better in the sense that you would never HAVE to override hashCode.
>
> Now, there are cases where you HAVE to override it, or your code is very broken.

Returning a constant hash code is correct in the same sense that 
answering "yes" to the question "Can you tell me the correct way to do 
this?" would be--syntactically and semantically correct, but completely 
contrary to the actual intent of the question.

The point of the hash code is to provide a cheap way to quickly 
distinguish inputs (in the sense that Pr(a.hashCode() == b.hashCode() 
and !a.equals(b)) should be as small as possible [1]). A constant-value 
hash completely negates the purpose of the hash code, and this renders 
the hashCode again completely unusable for anything that actually wants 
to use it.

In the default case, a.hashCode() == b.hashCode() only when a == b (this 
definitely holds true with 32-bit machines and I'm pretty sure it still 
holds true with 64-bit machines, but I'd have to reverify the JVM source 
code to be certain). It is thus correct so long as identity equals is 
correct. It is also potentially correct in a limited set of cases where 
a.equals(b) and a != b. In all of these cases, it would not only be 
correct but also extremely useful, having pretty strong guarantees about 
the distribution of hash values.

[1] Actually, for good performance, hash codes should go one step 
further and make slightly stronger guarantees about independence with 
respect to the size of the hash table. But I digress.

-- 
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not 
tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth

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hashCode bob smith <bob@coolfone.comze.com> - 2012-08-10 08:47 -0700
  Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-10 12:13 -0400
    Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-10 10:13 -0700
      Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-10 13:38 -0400
        Re: hashCode rossum <rossum48@coldmail.com> - 2012-08-11 10:36 +0100
  Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-10 12:34 -0400
    Re: hashCode bob smith <bob@coolfone.comze.com> - 2012-08-10 15:22 -0700
      Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-10 15:32 -0700
        Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-10 19:30 -0400
          Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 16:24 -0700
            Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:15 -0400
              Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:29 -0400
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-11 22:43 -0400
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:54 -0400
                Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 21:46 -0700
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 16:53 -0400
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 17:00 -0400
      Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-10 19:27 -0400
        Re: hashCode Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-08-12 17:06 +0200
          Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 16:59 -0400
            Re: hashCode Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-08-13 19:17 +0200
              Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-19 19:42 -0400
                Re: hashCode Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2012-08-21 10:30 +0000
              Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-19 19:47 -0400
                Re: hashCode Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2012-08-21 10:43 +0000
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-27 19:04 -0400
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-27 16:55 -0700
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-27 17:03 -0700
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-27 17:49 -0700
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-27 21:37 -0400
                Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-27 18:58 -0700
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-27 21:19 -0700
                Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-28 01:06 -0700
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-28 09:19 -0700
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-28 16:33 -0700
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-28 17:02 -0700
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-29 11:06 -0700
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-29 14:49 -0400
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-29 13:40 -0700
                Re: hashCode Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-29 18:02 -0700
                Re: hashCode Daniele Futtorovic <da.futt.news@laposte-dot-net.invalid> - 2012-08-31 00:52 +0200
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-30 21:43 -0400
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-30 21:52 -0400
                Re: hashCode Daniele Futtorovic <da.futt.news@laposte-dot-net.invalid> - 2012-08-31 04:18 +0200
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-31 09:08 -0600
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-31 11:38 -0400
                Re: hashCode Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-08-31 17:55 +0200
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-31 09:56 -0600
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-31 14:32 -0400
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-31 14:38 -0600
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-31 15:33 -0700
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-31 16:41 -0600
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-31 16:26 -0700
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-09-02 11:54 -0600
                Re: hashCode Daniele Futtorovic <da.futt.news@laposte-dot-net.invalid> - 2012-09-03 00:47 +0200
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-09-03 21:44 -0600
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-31 09:08 -0600
                Re: hashCode Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-08-31 17:58 +0200
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-29 11:51 -0700
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-29 13:28 -0700
                Re: hashCode markspace <-@.> - 2012-08-29 16:05 -0700
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-29 16:23 -0700
                Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-29 20:56 -0400
                Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-30 11:19 +0200
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-30 10:03 -0700
                Re: hashCode Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2012-08-30 18:34 +0000
                Re: hashCode Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-08-30 08:11 -0600
                Re: hashCode Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.nospam@virtualinfinity.net> - 2012-08-30 10:06 -0700
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-30 19:16 -0400
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-28 13:58 -0700
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-28 13:56 -0700
                Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-28 14:07 -0700
                Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-28 14:38 -0700
                Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-27 21:12 -0400
      Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-11 07:58 -0400
        Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 16:29 -0700
          Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:16 -0400
      Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-12 03:46 -0700
      Re: hashCode Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2012-08-12 12:23 -0400
        Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-12 09:40 -0700
          Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-12 13:59 -0400
            Re: hashCode Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-12 11:17 -0700
          Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 17:02 -0400
        Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-12 19:03 +0200
  Re: hashCode Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-08-10 12:17 -0700
    Re: hashCode Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-10 12:45 -0700
      Re: hashCode Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-08-11 04:54 -0700
        Re: hashCode Joerg Meier <joergmmeier@arcor.de> - 2012-08-11 18:25 +0200
          Re: hashCode Mike Winter <usenet@michael-winter.me.invalid> - 2012-08-11 18:53 +0100
        Re: hashCode Peter Duniho <NpOeStPeAdM@NnOwSlPiAnMk.com> - 2012-08-11 09:56 -0700
        Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-11 18:58 +0200
        Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:40 -0400
      Re: hashCode rossum <rossum48@coldmail.com> - 2012-08-11 18:47 +0100
    Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-10 19:25 -0400
      Re: hashCode Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-11 08:00 -0400
        Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 09:49 -0400
  Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-11 15:33 +0200
    Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-11 15:34 +0200
    Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 16:34 -0700
      Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 16:37 -0700
      Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-11 22:19 -0400
        Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-11 21:48 -0700
    Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-12 12:08 +0200
      Re: hashCode Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-08-12 12:18 +0200
      Re: hashCode Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-12 11:27 -0700
        Re: hashCode Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 17:11 -0400

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