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Reference.org
Memory-hard function
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Cryptography/e94PEVau">cryptography</a>, a memory-hard function (MHF) is a function that costs a significant amount of <a href="/facts/Random-access_memory/DuD4bxh6">memory</a> to efficiently evaluate. It differs from a <a href="/facts/Memory-bound_function/rCmpubq0">memory-bound function</a>, which incurs cost by slowing down computation through memory latency. MHFs have found use in <a href="/facts/Key_stretching/uVQSNI4H">key stretching</a> and <a href="/facts/Proof_of_work/GKI1LcQU">proof of work</a> as their increased memory requirements significantly reduce the computational efficiency advantage of custom hardware over general-purpose hardware compared to non-MHFs. </p>