Explain the distinction between closed an open hashing Discuss the relative merits of each technique in database application?

A hash table is where data storage for a key-value pair is done by generating an index using a hash function.

Open Hashing (aka Separate chaining) is simpler to implement, and more efficient for large records or sparse tables.

Closed Hashing (aka Open Addressing) is more complex but can be more efficient, especially for small data records.