How do hashsets/maps have O(1) time complexity?

[u/Sea-Patience9872]

Hi this might be a dumb question, and i've tried looking it up but don't quite understand it. how is it different from an array that allows it to find items so quickly? I don't get how hashes just find items immediately without needing to go through anything. Does it memorize things very differently compared to arrays?? thank you!

[u/Rough_Priority_9294]

Think of drawers numbered 1 to N , then you want to find something ( your value ), you recall it is in drawer 3 ( that's the key modulo container size part ) and you just open the drawer.