After reading the following about why one-way hash functions are one-way, I would like to know how to design a hash function. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1038307/help-me-better-understand-cryptographic-hash-functions/1047106#1047106 Before everyone gets on my case: Yes, I know that it's a bad idea to not use a proven and tested hash function. I would still like to know how it's done. I'm familiar with Feistel-network ciphers but those are necessarily reversible, horrible for a cryptographic hash. Is there some sort of construction that is well-used in cryptographic hashing? Something that makes it very one-way?