What is the difference between the hashing methods available in php
md2 md4 md5 sha1 sha224 sha256 sha384 sha512 ripemd128 ripemd160 ripemd256
ripemd320 whirlpool tiger128,3 tiger160,3 tiger192,3 tiger128,4 tiger160,
4 tiger192,4 snefru snefru256 gost adler32 crc32 crc32b salsa10 salsa20
haval128,3 haval160,3 haval192,3 haval224,3 haval256,3 haval128,4 haval160,
4 haval192,4 haval224,4 haval256,4 haval128,5 haval160,5 haval192,
5 haval224,5 haval256
I generally use md5 to store passwords in my db..
I searched for it but i couldn’t get exact advantages and disadvantages..
The differences are that of the algorithm used, which also determines the size of the output (e.g. md5 produces 128bit output, sha 160 bits).
md5 and sha1 have weakness that have been discovered (collisions in the hash space), though for most purposes md5 is sufficient unless you’re working on banking site.
You MUST however use a salt (regardless of the hash algorithm used), just using the md5 of the password for example leaves you potentially vulnerable to a rainbow attack.
Edit: This is more of a crypto question than PHP per se