What is a common strategy for resizing a hash table?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is a common strategy for resizing a hash table?
Doubling the size
Halving the size
Increasing by a fixed amount
Randomly changing the size
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is a common strategy for resizing a hash table?
Step 1: Understand what a hash table is. A hash table is a data structure that stores key-value pairs for fast data retrieval.
Step 2: Learn about the load factor. The load factor is a measure of how full the hash table is, calculated as the number of entries divided by the total number of slots.
Step 3: Identify the threshold. A common threshold for the load factor is 0.7, meaning the table is considered too full when 70% of its slots are occupied.
Step 4: Monitor the load factor. Keep track of the load factor as you add items to the hash table.
Step 5: Decide when to resize. If the load factor exceeds the threshold (e.g., goes above 0.7), it's time to resize the hash table.
Step 6: Double the size of the hash table. Increase the number of slots in the hash table to twice its current size.
Step 7: Rehash the existing entries. After resizing, go through all the existing entries and place them into the new larger hash table using the hash function.