The Java hash function for Strings computes a hash code based on a fixed maximum number of characters of the string. Given that Strings have no meaningful upper bound in length, describe how an...

The Java hash function for Strings computes a hash code based on a fixed maximum number of characters of the string. Given that Strings have no meaningful upper bound in length, describe how an effective, constant-time hashing algorithm can be constructed.

If we were to improve the iterators for Maps, we might add an iterator that returned key-value pairs. Is this an improvement in the interface?