Question at position 1 What should a hash function on a key return for a map?It depends on the map definitionThe value associated with a keyThe key's lengthAn integer between 0 and the size-1 of the map

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Question at position 1 What should a hash function on a key return for a map?It depends on the map definitionThe value associated with a keyThe key's lengthAn integer between 0 and the size-1 of the map

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Here is a step-by-step analysis of each answer option for the question about what a hash function on a key should return in a map.
Option 1: 'It depends on the map definition' — While some map implementations may influence how collisions are handled or how buckets are organized, the essential requirement of a hash function in a typical array-backed map is to map keys to valid indices within the underlying storage. Saying it depends on the map definition is too vague and does not specify the index range that a hash function must produce. This leads to ambiguity rather than a concrete contract.
Option 2: 'The value associated with a key' — This is incorrect because a hash function does not return the value stored in the map. The hash function produces an index or bucket identifier, not the data value. Accessing the value is the job of the map lookup after computing the index.
Option 3: 'The key's length' — The length of the key is not what a hash function typically returns. While some hash implementations may look at key characteristics, the function’s purpose is to produce an index, not to merely reflect key length. Hash outputs are not simply a length measurement.
Option 4: 'An integer between 0 and the size-1 of the map' — This option describes the standard contract: the hash function yields an integer that indexes into the map’s internal storage range, i.e., [0, size-1]. This aligns with how most array-backed or bucketed map structures translate a key into a position where its value may reside, enabling deterministic access and efficient retrieval.
In summary, Option 4 correctly encodes the core idea of a hash function for a map: it maps a key to a valid index within the map’s storage capacity, ensuring consistent placement and lookup. The other options either misinterpret the function’s role or describe outcomes that do not correspond to how hash-based maps compute their indices.

Question at position 1 What should a hash function on a key return for a map?It depends on the map definitionThe value associated with a keyThe key's lengthAn integer between 0 and the size-1 of the map

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