The full name of md5 is message-digest algorithm 5, which was developed by computer science laboratory of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ronald l. rivest of rsa data security inc in the early 1990s, and by md2, md3 and md4.
Its function is to "compress" a large amount of information into a secure format (that is, convert a byte string of any length into a large integer of a certain length) before signing the private key with digital signature software.
Extended data:
App application
Used for password management
When we need to save some password information for identity confirmation, if the password information is directly stored in the database in plain code without any security measures, the system administrator can easily obtain the original password information, and once this information is leaked, the password will be easily cracked.
e-signature
MD5 algorithm can also be used as a method of electronic signature. Using MD5 algorithm, a unique "digital fingerprint" can be generated for any file, regardless of its size, format and quantity. With this "digital fingerprint", you can know whether the source file has been modified by checking whether the MD5 value before and after the file has changed.
Baidu Encyclopedia -MD5