The quadratic hash increments the increment when searching for an empty entry. In consequence, if two searches from different starting points hit the same element it does not mean that the same entry will be hit later on as the search paths will diverge. In consequence, both the maximum search length and the average length of search are significantly smaller than for the linear hash.

E F Max Length = 1 Max Length = 3 Max Length = 4 Max Length = 6 Max Length = 7 Max Length = 8 Max Length = 10 Max Length = 13 Max Length = 20 Max Length = 21 Max Length = 35 Max Length = 42 (1) i = hash(KEY); inc=1 (2) If entry i empty or contains KEY exit (3) Otherwise i = i + inc; inc = inc + 1; goto (2) Sound Design by www.hoppinggoldfish.com Quadratic Hash Quadratic Hash