Separate Chaining
Separate chaining is a collision resolution technique used in hash tables, where each bucket (or slot) in the hash table points to a linked list or another data structure that stores all key-value pairs that hash to the same index. This method allows multiple items to coexist at the same hash index by chaining them together, ensuring efficient handling of collisions without requiring the table to be resized immediately. It is widely implemented in programming languages and libraries for hash-based data structures like dictionaries or maps.
Developers should learn separate chaining when implementing or optimizing hash tables in scenarios where collisions are frequent, such as in high-load applications or when using hash functions with limited distribution. It is particularly useful in languages like Java (e.g., in HashMap) or Python (e.g., in dict) to maintain performance and avoid data loss, as it provides a straightforward way to manage collisions while allowing for dynamic resizing and efficient lookups, inserts, and deletes in average cases.