Introduction to hash-wasm
Hash-wasm is a remarkably fast hashing library designed to work seamlessly on browsers and Node.js environments. It leverages the power of WebAssembly, with binaries meticulously optimized by hand to ensure superior performance over other libraries in computing hash values.
Supported Algorithms
Hash-wasm provides a wide array of algorithms for different cryptographic needs. Here is a breakdown of its offerings:
- Adler-32 and CRC32 series algorithms for basic error-checking.
- Advanced hashing functions such as Argon2 (including Argon2d, Argon2i, and Argon2id) and bcrypt for password hashing.
- Popular functions like MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2 (covering SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512), and SHA-3 for secure hash needs.
- Modern functions such as BLAKE2, BLAKE3, and the xxHash family for high-speed hashing.
- Other useful algorithms including SM3, HMAC, and PBKDF2.
Features
Hash-wasm stands out with a comprehensive suite of features:
- Speed: It's one of the fastest implementations for JavaScript and WebAssembly hashing. Benchmarks show significant performance improvements over other libraries.
- Lightweight: The library maintains a small bundle size.
- Broad Compatibility: Works with all major browsers, Node.js, and Deno.
- Data Handling: Supports large data streams, UTF-8 strings, and typed arrays. It can process chunked input streams efficiently.
- Modular Architecture: Each hashing algorithm is compiled into separate WebAssembly binaries, allowing for selective bundling and tree shaking.
- Easy Integration: Includes TypeScript definitions, supports Web Workers, and promises as the API basis.
- No Dependencies: The library relies on zero external dependencies, ensuring a lean, reliable setup.
- Concurrency: Capable of handling multiple concurrent hashing operations, with the ability to save and restore hashing states.
- Open Source: The project is fully open source with an accessible, transparent build process.
Installation and Usage
To get started, hash-wasm can be easily installed via npm:
npm i hash-wasm
For quick usage, you can also load it directly in your HTML via jsDelivr.
Here is an example of using hash-wasm to calculate an MD5 hash:
import { md5 } from 'hash-wasm';
async function hashData() {
const hash = await md5('Your data here');
console.log('MD5 Hash:', hash);
}
hashData();
For more advanced needs, such as streaming input or handling passwords with Argon2, hash-wasm offers functions to create dedicated hash instances that can be finely controlled throughout their lifecycle.
Benchmarks
Performance is a core strength of hash-wasm. When tested against other popular libraries, hash-wasm demonstrated superior throughput, particularly with both small and large data sizes across various algorithms like MD5, SHA1, and SHA256.
Conclusion
Hash-wasm offers robust hashing capabilities suitable for a range of applications, from basic data integrity checks to secure password hashing. Its speed, versatility, and hassle-free integration make it an excellent choice for developers seeking efficient hashing solutions in modern web and server environments.