CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#c#-4.0
Ask
Ask

Reputation: 3726

Any 32 or 64 bit hash function?

I want to create a method in c# which will return a string of max 10-12 characters. I have tried using SHA1 and MD5 but they are 160 and 128 bits respectively and generates 32 characters string which doesn't fulfill my requirements. Security is not the issue. I just need a small string that will remain unique

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2751

Answers (1)

xanatos
xanatos

Reputation: 111810

You can truncate the string (the hash) to the length you want. You'll only make it weaker (as an extreme example, if you truncate it to one byte, you'll probably have a collision after 16 elements are hashed, thanks to the birthday problem). Each part of a good hash is as much "good" as every other part. So take the first x characters/bytes and live happy. See for example a discussion about this in security. There is an explanation here about how much secure will be a truncated hash.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions