I don't understand how you got to that conclusion. My benchmark (when modified to use scalar %hash shows that there is no O(number of buckets) operation. All it does is factor of 4 or 5 difference between empty and non-empty hashes. For me that doesn't look like a loop, but rather like a good optimization for the empty case.

(For the empty hash the format of scalar %hash differs from the "normal" case. Instead of "$count/$buckets" it's simply 0).

The number of buckets seems to be stored in the MAX field.

In reply to Re^5: What is the most efficient way to see if a hash is empty? by moritz
in thread What is the most efficient way to see if a hash is empty? by ELISHEVA

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