# MessageDigest: Uses? Purpose?

Kaan Erdener (kaan@ses-guest-10.Ebay.Sun.COM)
Wed, 16 Jul 1997 11:50:57 -0700 (PDT)

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    Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 11:50:57 -0700 (PDT)

    From: Kaan Erdener <kaan@ses-guest-10.Ebay.Sun.COM>

    Subject: MessageDigest: Uses? Purpose?

    To: java-security@java.eng.sun.com

Hi,

I'm part of a team that's working on building a course about Java Security. I'm
gathering information about message digests (MD's, I'll call them), trying to
determine if we might have enough material to dedicate a section to them. I've
found example code showing how to implement MD's, but it isn't clear what their
uses are.

Questions:

o How is a message digest used from a developer's point of view? What are it's
benefits? Any drawbacks?

o As I understand it, MD's allow data to be finger printed. Since finger
prints provide verification, but not encryption, how could MD's offer anything
more than, say, a signed JAR file?

Thanks,

Kaan Erdener
kaan@ses-guest-10.ebay.sun.com

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