//
//   Hash a string of arbitrary length. 
//
//   This is more robust than the book's code in Fig 5.4 / p. 172
//   since it does not overflow the result, and it avoids use of
//   the magic number '37' (not explained in the text).
//

public static int hash (String s, int tableSize) 
{
    int result = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i ++) { 
    
        // left-shift 8 bits and add in the next character
	result = 256 * result + s.charAt(i); 

	// invoke Horner's rule:  take modulos along the way
	result = result % tableSize;        
    }

    return result;

}