Memory + MAX_ROWS (hash rebuild) quick question

[John Nahlen]

For reference, from http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/memory-storage-engine.html:

You can also specify a MAX_ROWS table option in CREATE TABLE statements for
MEMORY tables to provide a hint about the number of rows you plan to store in
 them. This does not enable the table to grow beyond the max_heap_table_size
 value, which still acts as a constraint on maximum table size. For maximum 
flexibility in being able to use MAX_ROWS, set max_heap_table_size at least as
 high as the value to which you want each MEMORY table to be able to grow.

I know Hashing (and Hash Indexes for the Memory engine) are complicated subjects, but if nothing else, hopefully the answer to this question will help me understand better:

My current understanding (even as a software engineer) is that for most Hash implementations, (such as a Java HashMap), you must specify an upper-bound for the hash (to avoid the hash from having to be recalculated [rebuilt] every so often for inserts, to maintain O(1) lookup performance). Is that the purpose of MAX_ROWS in the Memory engine?

Thanks,
- John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2011 11:30PM by John Nahlen.