how to initializing a hash table in C - c

Question

I have a program in C that creates a hash table.
memset is Okay but, i want to initialize with for loop.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define HSZ 127
#define HASHING(x) ((x)%HSZ)
struct node_t{
int val;
struct node_t *next;
};
struct node_t *hash_table[HSZ];
void init(void){
int i;
//memset(hash_table,0,sizeof(hash_table));
for(i=0; i<HSZ; i++){
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}
}
void insert_hash(int value){
int key = HASHING(value);
struct node_t *newNode = (struct node_t*)malloc(sizeof(struct node_t));
newNode->val = value;
newNode->next = NULL;
if(hash_table[key] == NULL){
hash_table[key] = newNode;
} else {
newNode->next = hash_table[key];
hash_table[key] = newNode;
}
}
int delete_hash(int value){
int key = HASHING(value);
if (hash_table[key] == NULL)
return 0;
struct node_t *delNode = NULL;
if (hash_table[key]->val == value){
delNode = hash_table[key];
hash_table[key] = hash_table[key]->next;
} else {
struct node_t *node = &hash_table[key];
struct node_t *next = hash_table[key]->next;
while (next){
if (next->val == value){
node->next = next->next;
delNode = next;
break;
}
node = next;
next = node->next;
}
}
return 1;
free(delNode);
}
void PrintAllHashData()
{
printf("###Print All Hash Data###\n");
for (int i = 0; i < HSZ; i++){
if (hash_table[i] != NULL){
printf("idx : %d ", i);
struct node_t *node = hash_table[i];
while (node->next){
printf("%d ", node->val);
node = node->next;
}
printf("%d\n", node->val);
}
}
}
int main(void){
init();
insert_hash(1);
insert_hash(3);
insert_hash(128);
PrintAllHashData();
}
look at this code.
for(i=0; i<HSZ; i++){
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}
The IDE I am using does not throw up a compilation error when I compile the code, but during the execution the code faults and is terminated/haulted. I tried debugging the code, it faults at this line and is stopped, I think BAD ACCESS points to Segmentation Error.
then, I changed this line to
for(i=0; i<HSZ; i++){
hash_table[i].val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}
but, then I got the compilation error stating 'structure type require instead of 'struct node_t *'
I think that I don't understand clearly about struct in C.
How to fix this problem?

Answer 1

What you are dealing with is Undefined Behavior.
See, struct node_t *hash_table[HSZ];
So, hash_table is an array of HSZ (127) pointers of the data type struct node_t.
When you do,
for(i=0; i<HSZ; i++){
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}
hash_table[0] to hash_table[126] pointers are not pointing to anything.
So, each of them (or all of them) should be initialized first to point to an object of the type struct node_t and then you can initialize them. For that matter, Using a memset does not cause a problem because memset is filling the contents of the pointers with all zeros. There is difference between filling the pointers with all zeros and filling all zeros to the memory pointed by pointers.
Trying this,
for(i=0; i<HSZ; i++){
hash_table[i].val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}
is plain wrong.
To fix the issue you are facing, you need to allocate memory dynamically using malloc. You can do the in your for loop.
for(i = 0; i < HSZ; i++)
{
//Allocate memory of the size struct_node_t
hash_table[i] = malloc(sizeof(struct node_t)); //Do not cast!
//Check if memory is allocated
if(hash_table[i] == NULL)
{
//Memory not allocated, set some error state to handle and break
break;
}
//Initialize to zero
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}

Answer 2

struct node_t{
int val;
struct node_t *next;
};
struct node_t *hash_table[HSZ];
when you have *hash_table[HSZ], this varible hash_table is a pointer. so whatever your action is , use hash_table-> ,syntax for pointer, mean point to somewhere.
a suggestion that when you use pointer you should always allocate memory hash_table[i] = malloc(sizeof(struct node_t));
struct node_t hash_table;
but if you initilize your varible like this, you can use hash_table.val = 0
so the way of assign value depend on how you declare your varibles

Answer 3

struct node_t *hash_table[HSZ];
gives you an array of pointers that are unset (i.e. not pointing to anything)
void init(void) {
int i;
// memset(hash_table,0,sizeof(hash_table));
for (i = 0; i < HSZ; i++) {
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
tries writing to your invalid pointers which gives undefined behavior.
Either make the array an array of structs (instead of pointers):
struct node_t hash_table[HSZ];
...
/* note use of . instead of -> since we have structs not pointers */
hash_table[i].val = 0;
or allocate the necessary structs so the array points to something:
for (i = 0; i < HSZ; i++) {
hash_table[i] = malloc(sizeof(struct node_t));
hash_table[i]->val = 0;
hash_table[i]->next = NULL;
}