Yes, seems it was just for hash tables. From the JDK 1.0 doc: """ Returns a hash code value for the object. This method is supported for the benefit of hasht

Yes, seems it was just for hash tables. From the JDK 1.0 doc: """ Returns a hash code value for the object. This method is supported for the benefit of hashtables such as those provided by <code>java.util.Hashtable</code>. The general contract of <code>hashCode</code> is: Whenever it is invoked on the same object more than once during an execution of a Java application, the <code>hashCode</code> method must consistently return the same integer. This integer need not remain consistent from one execution of an application to another execution of the same application. If two objects are equal according to the <code>equals</code> method, then calling the <code>hashCode</code> method on each of the two objects must produce the same integer result. """ hashCode is also related to object comparison (see the last line) and this was 2 Java releases before `Comparable` existed.