(definition)
Definition: The tendency for some collision resolution schemes to create long runs of filled slots near the hash function position of keys.
See also secondary clustering, clustering free, hash table, open addressing, clustering, linear probing, quadratic probing, double hashing, uniform hashing.
Note: Primary clustering increases average search time. Linear probing is especially susceptible to primary clustering. Clustering may be minimized with double hashing.
Author: PEB
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 18 July 2005.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:40 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "primary clustering", in
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 18 July 2005. (accessed TODAY)
Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/primaryClustering.html