Re:Speed Hashing
by cperciva on Friday April 06, 2012 @04:43PM
(#3808841)
Good non-cryptographic hash functions have "good" avalanching behaviour, but the definition of "good" depends on how randomly you expect your inputs to behave and how much a collision costs you. In hash tables, for instance, people often use quite weak -- i.e., poorly avalanching -- hashes since the cost of a collision is quite low.
Probably the best way to phrase it is that non-cryptographic hash functions cover a continuum with checksums at one extreme and cryptographic hash functions at the opposite extreme.
Probably the best way to phrase it is that non-cryptographic hash functions cover a continuum with checksums at one extreme and cryptographic hash functions at the opposite extreme.