Is the implementation of a hashCode method that always returns one correct?

Implementing the hashCode() method to always return the same value (for example, 1) is technically correct but extremely inefficient.

Why?

• The hashCode() contract requires that equal objects have the same hash code, but it does not require different objects to have unique hash codes.
• If all objects return the same hash code, hash tables (such as HashMap, HashSet) degrade to linear search, significantly reducing performance.

Thus, such an implementation violates the purpose of hash codes — to distribute objects evenly across buckets for quick access.

Example of a poor implementation:

@Override
public int hashCode() {
    return 1; // always the same hash
}

It is recommended to implement hashCode() considering the object's significant fields to ensure good distribution of values.