C Program To Implement Dictionary Using Hashing Algorithms Page
return table; // Helper: create a new node KeyValuePair* create_pair(const char *key, int value) KeyValuePair *new_pair = (KeyValuePair*)malloc(sizeof(KeyValuePair)); if (!new_pair) return NULL; new_pair->key = strdup(key); // Allocate and copy string new_pair->value = value; new_pair->next = NULL;
free(old_buckets); To make the dictionary work with any data type, replace int value with void *value and store the size or use a union. 6.3 Thread Safety For multithreaded programs, add mutex locks per bucket (fine-grained locking) or a single global lock (coarse-grained but simpler): c program to implement dictionary using hashing algorithms
// A single key-value pair (node in linked list) typedef struct KeyValuePair char key; int value; // For simplicity, values are integers. Can be void for generic use. struct KeyValuePair *next; KeyValuePair; return table; // Helper: create a new node
While C lacks built-in dictionaries, mastering this implementation gives you complete control over performance and memory—something higher-level languages abstract away. Whether you're building a compiler symbol table, a database index, or a caching system, this hash table dictionary will serve you well. struct KeyValuePair *next
// Insert or update a key-value pair void insert(HashTable *table, const char *key, int value) if (!table // Search: returns the value if key exists, or -1 if not found // (In production, use a status flag or pointer to indicate failure) int search(HashTable *table, const char *key, int *found) 4.4 Delete a Key-Value Pair // Delete a key from the dictionary int delete_key(HashTable *table, const char *key) if (!table 4.5 Display the Dictionary // Display all key-value pairs (for debugging) void display(HashTable *table) if (!table) return; printf("\n=== Dictionary Contents (Total: %d entries) ===\n", table->count); for (int i = 0; i < table->size; i++) if (table->buckets[i]) printf("Bucket[%d]: ", i); KeyValuePair *current = table->buckets[i]; while (current) printf("(%s -> %d) ", current->key, current->value); current = current->next; printf("\n");
return hash;