Theory-Of-Algorithms

I was required to write a program in the C programming language that calculates the MD5 hash digest of an input. This algorithm is specified in the 'Request For Comments 1321' document supplied by the the Internet Engineering Task Force [1]. The MD5 algorithm takes in a message input of arbitrary length producing an output of 128-bit message digest. It is considered to be a pseudorandom hashing algorithm meaning it is computationally impossible that the MD5 message digest, of different input, can produce two messages of the exact same message digest [3].

How to Set-up and Run

The following steps will be a guide to download, compile and run the code.

• Clone the repository using the following:

git clone https://github.com/niemaattarian/Theory-Of-Algorithms.git

• Navigate to the correct directory if necessary
• The MD5 file can be found at:

/MD5/main.c

• Compile the file using the command:

make main

• Run the file using the command:

./main "insert text"

The compiler used to help compile the code is the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). This compiler is an integrated distribution of compilers for many well known programming languages such as C, C++, Objective-C, etc [2].

The following steps will be a guide to download and install the compiler:

Ubuntu 20.04

• Open up a terminal and enter:

$ sudo apt install gcc

• To confirm and/or check your version of installation enter the following:

$ gcc --version

• If done correctly, the following information should be displayed:

gcc (Arch Linux 9.3.0-1) 9.3.0
Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Overview

A detailed overview of this project can be found at:

Overview.md

This docoument details how to run the algorithm, command line arguemnts and tests as specified in the brief, a detailed breakdown of the algorithm including diagrams with relevant research, the complexity of the algorithm including the complexity of ways to breach the algorithm and relevant references.

References

[1] Rivest, R., 1992. RFC1321: The MD5 message-digest algorithm.

[2] Stallman, R.M., 1988. Using the GNU Compiler Collection. For GCC version, 4(2).

[3] Rivest, R. and Dusse, S., 1992. The MD5 message-digest algorithm.