7 Hashing Books That Separate Experts from Amateurs

Unlike most hashing books that focus narrowly on theory, Joshua Picolet offers a hands-on manual grounded in his extensive penetration testing background. You’ll find detailed walkthroughs of password recovery methods, from extracting hashes across various operating systems to mastering the syntax of popular cracking tools. The book’s chapters on advanced techniques and tool usage provide concrete skills that network security professionals can immediately apply. While it’s tailored to penetration testers, anyone involved in cybersecurity can sharpen their understanding of password attack methodologies through this practical guide.

Dennis Byrne, a tech lead at 23andMe responsible for securing sensitive genetic data, wrote this book to bridge the gap between Python development and robust security practices. You’ll gain hands-on knowledge about cryptographic algorithms, TLS certificate management, and practical defenses against common web attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. The book walks you through implementing OAuth 2.0, form validation, and content security policies in Django, making complex security concepts accessible with clear code examples. If you’re an intermediate Python developer aiming to build secure web applications, this book offers a focused toolkit without unnecessary filler.

This tailored book explores the core concepts and advanced techniques of hashing, crafted to align with your specific background and objectives. It examines a diverse range of hashing algorithms, their applications in data structures, cryptography, and security, and delves into the nuances that make each technique suited to different challenges. By focusing on your interests, the book guides you through hashing strategies that match your experience level, ensuring an engaging and effective learning journey. The personalized content reveals how hashing optimizes data management, enhances security protocols, and supports efficient software development, offering a focused pathway through complex expert knowledge.

Drawing from decades of experience developing SAS software systems across industries like telecommunications and pharmaceuticals, Paul Dorfman offers a detailed exploration of hash table operations in this book. You learn how to harness the SAS hash object for complex data management tasks, including dynamic filtering, aggregation, and memory optimization. The book uses practical examples, such as sports statistics datasets, to demonstrate how to apply hash techniques effectively and efficiently. If you're tackling large-scale data challenges and want to deepen your understanding of in-memory databases and hashing algorithms, this book provides practical methods grounded in real-world business intelligence scenarios.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology crafted this detailed standard to define the SHA-3 cryptographic functions following their rigorous competition process. You’ll gain precise insights into the KECCAK algorithm and its permutation-based approach to hashing, understanding how these mechanisms underpin secure digital signatures and data integrity checks. This text is especially suited if your work involves cryptographic implementation or security protocol design, as it clarifies the mathematical foundations and operational specifics of SHA-3. With focused chapters on the KECCAK-p permutations and extendable-output functions, it offers a valuable reference for developers and researchers seeking an authoritative source straight from the creators.

Drawing from extensive expertise in cryptography, Arno Mittelbach and Marc Fischlin focus squarely on hash functions, elevating them from a background role to the centerpiece of modern cryptographic theory. You’ll explore foundational concepts like computational security, pseudorandomness, and message authentication codes, plus the random oracle model with its subtleties and controversies. The book doesn’t shy away from complexity: it examines real-world hash constructions, HMAC security proofs, and attacks on iterative hash functions. If you want a deep dive into hash functions’ theory and applications, this book offers a rigorous but rewarding path, especially suited for those with some prior cryptography background.

This tailored book explores step-by-step hashing exercises designed to accelerate your skill development through daily practice. It focuses on your unique background and goals, offering a personalized pathway that matches your current knowledge and interests in hashing algorithms and applications. The book covers essential concepts, practical coding tasks, and problem-solving techniques that build your expertise progressively. By concentrating on your specific learning needs, it reveals how to master complex hashing topics efficiently and effectively. With this approach, you gain a clear, actionable daily plan fostering fast skill growth and deeper understanding.

Dr. Jean-Philippe Aumasson's extensive background as a principal cryptographer at Kudelski Security and his scholarly contributions shape this detailed exploration of the BLAKE hash function. The book delves into the design and evolution of BLAKE and its successor BLAKE2, offering you clear guidance on implementing these algorithms across various platforms, from portable C code to assembly and SIMD optimizations. You'll gain insights into cryptographic hashing fundamentals, security definitions, and practical applications like HMAC and PBKDF2, alongside hardware considerations for ASIC and FPGA deployments. This work suits developers, security engineers, and applied cryptography students who seek a thorough, engineering-focused reference rather than theoretical exposition.

Drawing from his extensive background in math, computer science, and bioinformatics, Thomas Mailund takes you through the foundations and intricacies of hash table programming using C. You’ll explore how to implement hash tables starting from basic versions without collision handling, progressing to more refined designs that tackle collisions and dynamic resizing. The book dives into practical coding examples and experiments, clarifying the trade-offs behind design decisions and performance impacts, especially in managing sets and maps efficiently. If you have prior experience in C and want to deepen your understanding of hash tables beyond theory, this book offers hands-on guidance to sharpen your programming skills in this core area.