Simple string hashing function

Question

I\'m trying to hash a string into an integer for placing it in an array. However I do not know all too much about hashing functions, and that\'s why my current method is jus

Answer 1

I've tried many fast hash functions and chosen this one:

function StrHash(const st:string):cardinal; 
 var
  i:integer;
 begin
  result:=0;
  for i:=1 to length(st) do
   result:=result*$20844 xor byte(st[i]);
 end;

It is as fast as K&R function (actually even faster) but makes better (more even) distribution.