title: Help with hash tables and quadratic probing in Java
body: <p>I really need help with inserting into a hash table.  I'm just not totally getting it right now.  Could someone explain quadratic and linear probing in layman's terms?</p>
  
  <pre><code>public void insert(String key)
  {
      int homeLocation = 0;
      int location = 0;
      int count = 0;
  
      if (find(key).getLocation() == -1)  // make sure key is not already in the table
      {
         //****** ADD YOUR CODE HERE FOR QUADRATIC PROBING  ********
      }
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This is the code I'm working on.  I'm not asking anyone to do it, I just really need help with learning the whole concept</p>
  
  <p>Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>