Is number comparison faster than string comparison?

Question

I heard that hashing (ie converting a string or object to a number) is used for strings and such because it is easier to compare numbers than strings. If true, what is the reaso

Answer 1

Yes, but that has nothing to do with hashing.

Comparing numbers involves simple hardware instructions that compare bits.

Comparing strings involves (a) iterating through both strings until you find differing characters (unlike numbers, which are fixed-size) and (b) lots of Unicode magic (different strings of different lengths can actually be equal, and different characters in different code blocks compare differently).

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Hashing is typically used to convert a string into an array index.