What is Hashing?

Hashing is a cryptographic technique that converts data of any size into a fixed-length string of characters, called a hash value or hash code. The process uses a hashing algorithm that generates a unique, deterministic output for a given input. Hashing is commonly used for data integrity verification and password storage. It ensures that data cannot be easily reversed or deciphered from the hash value alone, making it useful for validating the integrity of files, comparing data sets, and securing sensitive information.