Create MD5 Hash of a string in Python

MD5 is (atleast when it was created) a standardized 1-way function that takes in data input of any form and maps it to a fixed-size output string, irrespective of the size of the input string.

Though it is used as a cryptographic hash function, it has been found to suffer from a lot of vulnerabilities.

The hash function generates the same output hash for the same input string. This means that, you can use this string to validate files or text or anything when you pass it across the network or even otherwise. MD5 can act as a stamp or for checking if the data is valid or not.

For example -

MD5 hash of a String in Python

MD5 hash can be created using the python's default module hashlib.

import hashlib

text = 'Hello!'

m = hashlib.md5(text.encode('UTF-8'))
print(m.hexdigest())

Output of the above code-

d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e

The value you see here d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e is the MD5 hash of the string Hello!.

You can also update the value of the string and check it as well if needed. This can be used to strengthen the hash logic in your workflow where you can append strings in certain order and see if your hash matched the source hash.

import hashlib

text = 'Hello!'

m = hashlib.md5()
print(m.hexdigest())
m.update(b"Have Fun!")
print(m.hexdigest())
m.update(text.encode('UTF-8'))
print(m.hexdigest())

Output of the above code-

24187a7aa74385955a8546c99e0c2b6a