Hash Table: How Does a Hash Table Store Data? A Diagram of Collision Resolution Methods

A hash table is a key-value storage structure that maps keys to array bucket positions through a hash function, enabling O(1) efficient lookup, insertion, and deletion. Its underlying structure is an array, where keys are converted into array indices (bucket positions) via a hash function (e.g., "key % array length"), and corresponding values are directly stored at these indices. Collisions occur when different keys yield the same hash value (e.g., student IDs 12 and 22 both %10 to 2 when the array length is 10). Two classic collision resolution methods exist: 1. **Chaining**: Each bucket stores a linked list, with colliding elements appended to the tail of the list. This is simple to implement but requires additional space. 2. **Open Addressing**: Linear probing is a common variant, where the algorithm searches for the next empty bucket (e.g., h → h+1 → h+2 ... for a hash value h). This uses only array operations but may cause clustering. The core components of a hash table are the hash function and collision handling logic, making it a foundational topic in data structure learning.