Summary of the BINARY_CHECKSUM() Function in SQL Server

[kfrural]

Functionality of BINARY_CHECKSUM()

Calculates a binary checksum value over a row or list of expressions
Returns the same value for a row as long as it isn't modified later
Satisfies hash function properties:
    Same output for equal inputs 
    Output changes if input changes 

Key Characteristics

Ignores columns of non-comparable data types in computation
Supports varbinary(max) of any length and nvarchar(max) up to 255 characters
More precise than CHECKSUM() but with higher computational overhead
May have occasional collisions, so should only be used if application can tolerate undetected changes 

Alternatives

HASHBYTES() is more precise but has additional overhead
Snowflake standard hash functions like SHA256() can be used as alternatives