hash

Generates a Fixnum hash value for this object. This function must have the property that a.eql?(b) implies a.hash == b.hash.

The hash value is used along with eql? by the Hash class to determine if two objects reference the same hash key. Any hash value that exceeds the capacity of a Fixnum will be truncated before being used.

The hash value for an object may not be identical across invocations or implementations of ruby. If you need a stable identifier across ruby invocations and implementations you will need to generate one with a custom method.