What is the load factor of a hash table and why is it important?
Load factor is crucial because: 1) Indicates how full the hash table is, 2) Calculated as (number of items) / (total slots), 3) Higher load factor increases collision probability, 4) Affects performance of operations, 5) Typically triggers resizing when exceeds threshold, 6) Common threshold is 0.7 or 0.75, 7) Balances space efficiency and performance, 8) Key metric for hash table optimization.