Simple string hashing function

Question

I'm trying to hash a string into an integer for placing it in an array. However I do not know all too much about hashing functions, and that's why my current method is just adding all the ASCII numbers of the characters together and taking it mod the array size.

Are there any simple faster/better methods?

Answer 1

The FNV-1a hash is quick and easy to implement.

Answer 2

See http://www.strchr.com/hash_functions for a very good panel of hashing functions.

In Delphi implementation, here are several versions:

The first coming to mind is the one used in TStringHash.HashOf method from official IniFiles.pas unit. Including a faster asm version:

function HashOf(P: PByteArray; Len: integer): cardinal;
// algorithm from IniFiles.TStringHash.HashOf
{$ifdef PUREPASCAL}
var I: Integer;
begin
  Result := 0;
  for I := 1 to Len do
    Result := ((Result shl 2) or (Result shr (SizeOf(Result)*8-2))) xor P[I];
end;
{$else}
asm // faster asm version by Synopse
    or edx,edx
    jz @z
    push ebx
    mov ebx,edx     // ebx = length(Key)
    mov edx,eax     // edx = Text
    xor eax,eax     // eax = Result
    xor ecx,ecx     // ecx = Result shl 2 = 0
@1: shr eax,$1e     // eax = Result shr (SizeOf(Result) * 8 - 2))
    or ecx,eax      // ecx = ((Result shl 2) or (Result shr (SizeOf(Result)*8-2)))
    movzx eax,byte ptr [edx] // eax = ord(Key[i])
    inc edx
    xor eax,ecx     // eax = () xor ord(Key[i])
    dec ebx
    lea ecx,[eax*4] // ecx = Result shl 2
    jnz @1
    pop ebx
@z:
end;
{$endif}

The classic Kernighan & Ritchie hash from "The C programming Language", 3rd edition - not the best, but simple and efficient code.

function kr32(crc: cardinal; buf: PAnsiChar; len: cardinal): cardinal;
var i: integer;
begin
  for i := 0 to len-1 do
    crc := ord(buf[i])+crc*31;
  result := crc;
end;

The fast "Adler" CRC as implemented in zlib - optimized asm version here:

function Adler32Pas(Adler: cardinal; p: pointer; Count: Integer): cardinal;
var s1, s2: cardinal;
    i, n: integer;
begin
  s1 := LongRec(Adler).Lo;
  s2 := LongRec(Adler).Hi;
  while Count>0 do begin
    if Count<5552 then
      n := Count else
      n := 5552;
    for i := 1 to n do begin
      inc(s1,pByte(p)^);
      inc(cardinal(p));
      inc(s2,s1);
    end;
    s1 := s1 mod 65521;
    s2 := s2 mod 65521;
    dec(Count,n);
  end;
  result := word(s1)+cardinal(word(s2)) shl 16;
end;

My own faster variant - not re-entrant, but faster since it will read by DWORDs - and an even faster asm version here:

function Hash32(Data: pointer; Len: integer): cardinal;
function SubHash(P: PCardinalArray; L: integer): cardinal;
{$ifdef HASINLINE}inline;{$endif}
var s1,s2: cardinal;
    i: PtrInt;
const Mask: array[0..3] of cardinal = (0,$ff,$ffff,$ffffff);
begin
  if P<>nil then begin
    s1 := 0;
    s2 := 0;
    for i := 1 to L shr 4 do begin // 16 bytes (4 DWORD) by loop - aligned read
      inc(s1,P^[0]);
      inc(s2,s1);
      inc(s1,P^[1]);
      inc(s2,s1);
      inc(s1,P^[2]);
      inc(s2,s1);
      inc(s1,P^[3]);
      inc(s2,s1);
      inc(PtrUInt(P),16);
    end;
    for i := 1 to (L shr 2)and 3 do begin // 4 bytes (DWORD) by loop
      inc(s1,P^[0]);
      inc(s2,s1);
      inc(PtrUInt(P),4);
    end;
    inc(s1,P^[0] and Mask[L and 3]);      // remaining 0..3 bytes
    inc(s2,s1);
    result := s1 xor (s2 shl 16);
  end else
    result := 0;
end;
begin // use a sub function for better code generation under Delphi
  result := SubHash(Data,Len);
end;

The classic CRC32 version - you can find a very optimized asm version (using 8 tables) here:

function UpdateCrc32(aCRC32: cardinal; inBuf: pointer; inLen: integer) : cardinal;
var i: integer;
begin
  result := aCRC32;
  // if we used a dynamic table, we assume we want shorter code size
  for i := 1 to inLen do begin
    result := crc32Tab[byte(result xor pByte(inBuf)^)] xor (result shr 8);
    inc(cardinal(inBuf));
  end;
end;

Answer 3

As Dummy00001 pointed out, this has been asked and answered before. Take a look at Best algorithm for hashing number values?, particularly the suggestion of using MurmurHash.

I'd recommend MurmurHash because:

1. It's very fast.

2. Its distribution and avalanche characteristics are excellent for a non-cryptographic hash.

3. Its worst-case behavior is still pretty good.

I've used it. It doesn't suck.

edit

There was a lot of discussion about how to best port it to Delphi, on https://forums.embarcadero.com/thread.jspa?threadID=13902&tstart=0. The resulting code is available at https://forums.codegear.com/thread.jspa?threadID=14879

Delphi translation

function Murmur2(const S: AnsiString; const Seed: LongWord=$9747b28c): LongWord;
var
    h: LongWord;
    len: LongWord;
    k: LongWord;
    data: Integer;
const
    // 'm' and 'r' are mixing constants generated offline.
    // They're not really 'magic', they just happen to work well.
    m = $5bd1e995;
    r = 24;
begin
    len := Length(S);

    //The default seed, $9747b28c, is from the original C library

    // Initialize the hash to a 'random' value
    h := seed xor len;

    // Mix 4 bytes at a time into the hash
    data := 1;

    while(len >= 4) do
    begin
        k := PLongWord(@S[data])^;

        k := k*m;
        k := k xor (k shr r);
        k := k* m;

        h := h*m;
        h := h xor k;

        data := data+4;
        len := len-4;
    end;

    {   Handle the last few bytes of the input array
            S: ... $69 $18 $2f
    }
    Assert(len <= 3);
    if len = 3 then
        h := h xor (LongWord(s[data+2]) shl 16);
    if len >= 2 then
        h := h xor (LongWord(s[data+1]) shl 8);
    if len >= 1 then
    begin
        h := h xor (LongWord(s[data]));
        h := h * m;
    end;

    // Do a few final mixes of the hash to ensure the last few
    // bytes are well-incorporated.
    h := h xor (h shr 13);
    h := h * m;
    h := h xor (h shr 15);

    Result := h;
end;

Passes all self-tests from the original C implementation.

Answer 4

Jenkins hash function should help you get started.

my current method is just adding all the ASCII numbers of the characters together and taking it mod the array size.

You discard important bit of information which is the position of the character in the string. That is a bad idea, since then strings "AB" and "BA" would have same the same hash value.

Instead of simple addition, keeping it primitive, one can use expression like hash = hash*P1 + str[i]*P2 + P3; where Pi are some prime numbers. That's how I do it if I need a hash function quickly. I often use 7, 5 and 3 as the primes, but the numbers should be obviously adjusted (as well as initial value of hash) so that the result of hash function is usable to your task.

For more information read the corresponding (and rather informative) Wikipedia article.

Answer 5

I've tried many fast hash functions and chosen this one:

function StrHash(const st:string):cardinal; 
 var
  i:integer;
 begin
  result:=0;
  for i:=1 to length(st) do
   result:=result*$20844 xor byte(st[i]);
 end;

It is as fast as K&R function (actually even faster) but makes better (more even) distribution.

Answer 6

A very simple method is to just XOR all values. The simplest as far as I know.