Hashing Questions Medium
The purpose of a hash set in Java is to store a collection of unique elements in a way that allows for efficient retrieval and insertion operations. It uses a hashing technique to determine the index of each element in an underlying array, which enables constant-time complexity for basic operations such as adding, removing, and checking for the presence of an element. The hash set uses the hash code of each element to calculate its index, ensuring that elements with the same hash code are stored in the same bucket. This allows for quick access to elements by their hash code, reducing the need for iterating through the entire collection. Additionally, a hash set does not allow duplicate elements, as it uses the hash code and the equals() method to determine if an element already exists in the set.