hash buckets

[Ted Lemon]

> It seems obvious what the penalties of too few hash buckets are, but
> what penalties exist for too many, beyond the obvious of having
> unused resource?

That's it.

> Is the hashing algorithm somehow tuned for 97 buckets?  If I wanted to
> increase the number of buckets should I replace the algorithm too?

Not necessarily.   There are enough bits in what is usually being
hashed to safely allow you to use numbers at least as high as 10k.
I'd have to think about it before recommending that you go higher.
I do recommend that you choose a prime number...

			       _MelloN_