However, there is one drawback I have with hash tables: they don’t default to the order in which they are inserted. I’m OK with this since I come from a DB background, and I’m used to order not being enforced unless I specify an
ORDER BY. Not everyone is as lenient as we are, though, and the vast majority of the louder masses expect this ordering.Now, there are ways around this unordered aspect of hash tables.
Click through for the easy answer, the less easy answer, and some additional thoughts on script development from Shane.