What is Hashing?

Cryptography · Axiom Academy

Discover the one-way mathematical magic that powers modern cryptography. Just like every person has a unique fingerprint, every piece of data can have a unique "digital fingerprint." Click on each item to reveal its hash. Think of a hash function like a blender for data. Once you blend ingredients, you can't separate them back out. Click ingredients to "blend" them! Type anything in the box below and watch how it instantly generates a unique hash. Try your name, a sentence, or even just a single letter! Here's where it gets interesting: changing even a tiny bit of the input creates a completely different hash. Look at these examples! Now that you understand how hashing works, here's where it's used in everyday technology:

This is the written version of the interactive lesson above. See the full Cryptography course.