Eq () and hash () in Python
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Internal
Overview
__eq__()
__hash__()
Dictionaries and the __hash__() Function
To store a key into a dictionary, Python performs the following sequence:
1. Call __hash__()
on the key and compute the hash of the key. If the key is not hashable, raise a TypeError
.
2. Store (hash_value, key, value) in the bucket at the location hash_value % len(buckets)
3. If the bucket array needs resizing, __re-use the previously computed hash value__ to re-insert all previously stored values. This is why is important that the key is immutable: if the key is mutable and it changes while the key/value pair is stored in the dictionary, lookup and resizing will not work.