Running a cryptographic checksum on a file
One of the most effective methods to determine whether a file on a computer is different from another file elsewhere is by comparing their cryptographic hashes. If the two hashes are equal, it's only highly probable that the files are equal, but not strictly necessary due to the possibility of collisions.
After downloading a file online, such as Arch Linux from https://www.archlinux.org/download, it is a good idea to ensure the cryptographic hashes match up. For example, have a look at the following screenshot:
The preceding screenshot shows the corresponding hashes for the Arch Linux download as of late ...
Get Haskell Data Analysis Cookbook now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
