Hashing is like a magic trick that turns any information into a unique, scrambled code. Imagine you have a big pile of LEGO bricks, and you arrange them in a special way to make a castle. Now, think about writing down a secret code that describes how you built that castle. That’s kind of what hashing does, but with information instead of LEGO bricks.
When you use hashing, you take something like a password or a message and put it through a special formula. This formula mixes up the information and turns it into a short, jumbled string of letters and numbers. What’s amazing is that even the tiniest change in the original information will create a completely different hash.
Hashing is super important for keeping things safe online. For example, when you enter your password on a website, it gets hashed before it’s stored. This way, even if someone sneaky gets into the website’s storage, they can’t see your actual password—just the scrambled hash.
Hashes are also used to make sure information hasn’t been changed. If someone sends you a file with a hash, you can hash the file yourself and compare it to the original hash. If the two hashes match, you know the file hasn’t been tampered with.
What is Hashing?
Hashing is like a magic trick that turns any information into a unique, scrambled code. Imagine you have a big pile of LEGO bricks, and you arrange them in a special way to make a castle. Now, think about writing down a secret code that describes how you built that castle. That’s kind of what hashing does, but with information instead of LEGO bricks.
When you use hashing, you take something like a password or a message and put it through a special formula. This formula mixes up the information and turns it into a short, jumbled string of letters and numbers. What’s amazing is that even the tiniest change in the original information will create a completely different hash.
Hashing is super important for keeping things safe online. For example, when you enter your password on a website, it gets hashed before it’s stored. This way, even if someone sneaky gets into the website’s storage, they can’t see your actual password—just the scrambled hash.
Hashes are also used to make sure information hasn’t been changed. If someone sends you a file with a hash, you can hash the file yourself and compare it to the original hash. If the two hashes match, you know the file hasn’t been tampered with.