What Is a Download Hash and How Do You Verify It?

When you download software, disk images, archives, or large files, you sometimes see a strange-looking string next to the download link. A hash is like a fingerprint for a file. If the file changes, the hash changes too. That makes hashes useful for checking whether a downloaded file is really the file you expected. A download can be damaged, incomplete, replaced, or modified. https://medium.com/@chris.ahrweiler/what-is-a-download-hash-and-how-do-you-verify-it-7debe8245f0d