In interviews, it's common to be asked about the differences between hashing and encryption to gauge your understanding of data security principles. Typical questions include:

• "What is the difference between hashing and encryption?"
• "Can you provide use cases where hashing would be more appropriate than encryption, and vice versa?"
• "How do common hashing algorithms compare to encryption algorithms?"

These questions are designed to reveal your knowledge of data protection methods, their respective applications, and your ability to select the appropriate technique for different scenarios.

Thoroughly grasping hashing and encryption is vital for data security. Here are the key points you need to know:

1. Purpose and Function:
   • Why It Matters: Hashing is used to create a fixed-size string or value from input data of arbitrary size, primarily for integrity verification.
   • Example: SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit) is a widely-used hashing algorithm.
2. Irreversibility:
   • Why It Matters: Hashing is a one-way function; you cannot revert the output hash back to the original data, which makes it ideal for password storage and data integrity checks.
3. Use Cases:
   • Why It Matters: Hashing is commonly used for verifying data integrity, password storage, and digital signatures.

1. Purpose and Function:
   • Why It Matters: Encryption transforms data into an unreadable format to protect its confidentiality and is reversible with the proper key.
   • : AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a widely-used encryption algorithm.