Ada.Containers.Hash_Type'Size

General
1

I’ve been playing with optimizations for an instance of Ada.Containers.Hashed_Sets for the Advent of Code Day 9 puzzle.

RM A.18.1 The Package Containers says:

type Hash_Type is mod implementation-defined;

With the Implementation advice:

Hash_Type'Modulus should be at least 2**32.

The annotated RM expands upon this:

This is not a requirement so that these types can be declared properly on machines with native sizes that are not 32 bits. For instance, a 24-bit target could use 2**24 for Hash_Type'Modulus.

In GNAT’s a-contai.ads, the definition is simply:

type Hash_Type is mod 2**32;

Would it make sense to use System.Max_Binary_Modulus instead, so that 64-bit systems can benefit from a larger hash space?

type Hash_Type is mod System.Max_Binary_Modulus;

If we want to retain the minimum 32-bit size, a conditional could be added:

type Hash_Type is mod (if System.Max_Binary_Modulus >= 32 then System.Max_Binary_Modulus else 32);