hash collision

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

<programming> (Or "hash clash") When two different keys hash to the same value, i.e. to the same location in a hash table.

ESR once asked a friend what he expected Berkeley to be like. The friend replied, "Well, I have this mental picture of naked women throwing Molotov cocktails, but I think that's just a collision in my hash tables." [Jargon File]

(1995-01-23)

The Jargon File

[from the techspeak] (var.: hash clash) When used of people, signifies a confusion in associative memory or imagination, especially a persistent one (see thinko). True story: One of us [ESR] was once on the phone with a friend about to move out to Berkeley. When asked what he expected Berkeley to be like, the friend replied: “Well, I have this mental picture of naked women throwing Molotov cocktails, but I think that's just a collision in my hash tables.” Compare hash bucket.