Can Java's hashCode produce same value for different strings?

Question

Is it possible to have same hashcode for different strings using java\'s hashcode function?or if it is possible then what is the % of its possibility?

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible for two Strings to have the same hashcode - If you take a look at the Wikipedia article, you will see that both "FB" and "Ea" have the same hashcode. There is nothing in the method contract saying a hashCode() should be used to compare for equality, you want to use equals() for that.

Since Java 1.2, String implements hashCode() by using a product sum algorithm over the entire text of the string.