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Mark Blanford
427 PointsIf the hashcode is the memory address by default how can it also possibly *not* be unique?
Why would GetHashCode() need to be overridden under normal circumstances if by default it returns the memory address? Two different objects can't have the same memory address, so is it not inherently unique? Or is this in case a different object has had its GetHashCode method altered so that it happens to return something that looks identical to an existing memory address (but is in fact just an integer and a coincidence)? This is very confusing!
3 Answers
Steven Parker
231,198 PointsThe issue is that you don't want the hash code to always be unique. In particular, if two things are equal then they must return the same value for GetHashCode().
So when you change how things are determined to be equal, you're expected to also change the hash method so equal items will return the same thing.
Richard Külling
9,465 PointsThat explanation needs to be in the video imo.
Mark Blanford
427 PointsGot it, that makes sense. Thank you!