Which among the following statement(s) is(are) true? (A) A hash function takes…

Correct answer: (A) and (C)

• Statement A: A hash function takes a message of arbitrary length and generates a fixed length code — True. Hash functions (for example, SHA-256) accept inputs of varying lengths and produce a fixed-size output (a 256-bit digest in the SHA-256 case).

• Statement B: A hash function takes a message of fixed length and generates a code of variable length — False. This reverses the usual properties: inputs can be arbitrary length and outputs are fixed length, not the other way around.

• Statement C: A hash function may give the same hash value for distinct messages — True. Because the output space is finite while the set of possible inputs is typically much larger, collisions (different inputs producing the same hash) are possible, even though good cryptographic hash functions make them hard to find.

Therefore the correct combination of true statements is the first and the third statements.