A direct access table has the items 21, 32, 43, 54. What will be the output of HashSearch(table, 5)?

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Question restatement: A direct access table has the items 21, 32, 43, 54. What will be the output of HashSearch(table, 5)?

Step through what HashSearch is doing: you are asked to search for the key 5 in a table that contains 21, 32, 43, and 54. Since 5 is not present in the table, the search algorithm has no matching entry to return. In many hash/search implementations for a direct-access table, a failed search yields a null, not found, or some sentinel value indicating absence.

Option-wise evaluation (conceptual, since explicit options aren’t listed):
- If an option were null (or a ‘not found’ indicator): this is plausible because 5 is not stored in the table, so the search should correctly report that the item isn’t present.
- If an option were a found value (e.g., 21, 32, 43, or 54): this would be incorrect because none of these values equal the searched key 5, and the table only contains those four items provided.
- If an option were a special error code like -1 in some systems: many implementations use -1 or null to denote not found; both convey the same meaning here, but the precise representation depends on the API. The key point is that 5 is absent, so a not-found result is expected.
- If an option asserted that hashing guarantees a hit for any input: that would be misleading, since a correct hash search should only return a value if the key exists; absence is a valid outcome.

Why the correct interpretation is not found: The set of stored items does not include 5, and hash-based search cannot conjure a missing element from nothing. The algorithm will traverse, probe, or check the appropriate slot(s) and ultimately determine there is no matching entry, yielding a not-found result such as null.

Summary of the reasoning: Since 5 is not among {21, 32, 43, 54}, HashSearch(table, 5) should return a not-found indication (commonly null). Any option asserting a successful match to one of the existing items would be incorrect, and any not-found indicator aligns with the expected outcome for a missing key.

CIS-279-OLH-CRN47413 Quiz: Chapter 6

A direct access table has the items 21, 32, 43, 54. What will be the output of HashSearch(table, 5)?

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