Digest::Pearson::PurePerl is an implementation of Peter K. Pearson's hash algorithm presented in "Fast Hashing of Variable Length Text Strings" - ACM 1990. This hashing technique yields good distribution of hashed results for variable length input strings on the range 0-255, and thus, it is well suited for data load balancing. If you prefer a fast implementation, you might want to consider Digest::Pearson instead.