2014/10/22 by Janson, Svante, Viola, Alfredo
#60W40 #68P10 #68P20 #Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS) #FOS: Computer and information sciences
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1410.5967
We give a unified analysis of linear probing hashing with a general bucket size. We use both a combinatorial approach, giving exact formulas for generating functions, and a probabilistic approach, giving simple derivations of asymptotic results. Both approaches complement nicely, and give a good insight in the relation between linear probing and random walks. A key methodological contribution, at the core of Analytic Combinatorics, is the use of the symbolic method (based on q-calculus) to directly derive the generating functions to analyze.