diff --git a/src/hash.rs b/src/hash.rs
index 0219391820..0ec0ab0490 100644
--- a/src/hash.rs
+++ b/src/hash.rs
@@ -10,8 +10,25 @@
 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
 // with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
+use std::error::Error;
+use std::fmt::{self, Debug, Display};
+
 pub const GIT_MAX_RAWSZ: usize = 32;
 
+/// An error indicating an invalid hash algorithm.
+///
+/// The contained `u32` is the same as the `algo` field in `ObjectID`.
+#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone)]
+pub struct InvalidHashAlgorithm(pub u32);
+
+impl Display for InvalidHashAlgorithm {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "invalid hash algorithm {}", self.0)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Error for InvalidHashAlgorithm {}
+
 /// A binary object ID.
 #[repr(C)]
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Ord, PartialOrd, Eq, PartialEq)]
@@ -19,3 +36,145 @@ pub struct ObjectID {
     pub hash: [u8; GIT_MAX_RAWSZ],
     pub algo: u32,
 }
+
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+impl ObjectID {
+    pub fn as_slice(&self) -> Result<&[u8], InvalidHashAlgorithm> {
+        match HashAlgorithm::from_u32(self.algo) {
+            Some(algo) => Ok(&self.hash[0..algo.raw_len()]),
+            None => Err(InvalidHashAlgorithm(self.algo)),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn as_mut_slice(&mut self) -> Result<&mut [u8], InvalidHashAlgorithm> {
+        match HashAlgorithm::from_u32(self.algo) {
+            Some(algo) => Ok(&mut self.hash[0..algo.raw_len()]),
+            None => Err(InvalidHashAlgorithm(self.algo)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// A hash algorithm,
+#[repr(C)]
+#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Ord, PartialOrd, Eq, PartialEq)]
+pub enum HashAlgorithm {
+    SHA1 = 1,
+    SHA256 = 2,
+}
+
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+impl HashAlgorithm {
+    const SHA1_NULL_OID: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: [0u8; 32],
+        algo: Self::SHA1 as u32,
+    };
+    const SHA256_NULL_OID: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: [0u8; 32],
+        algo: Self::SHA256 as u32,
+    };
+
+    const SHA1_EMPTY_TREE: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: *b"\x4b\x82\x5d\xc6\x42\xcb\x6e\xb9\xa0\x60\xe5\x4b\xf8\xd6\x92\x88\xfb\xee\x49\x04\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00",
+        algo: Self::SHA1 as u32,
+    };
+    const SHA256_EMPTY_TREE: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: *b"\x6e\xf1\x9b\x41\x22\x5c\x53\x69\xf1\xc1\x04\xd4\x5d\x8d\x85\xef\xa9\xb0\x57\xb5\x3b\x14\xb4\xb9\xb9\x39\xdd\x74\xde\xcc\x53\x21",
+        algo: Self::SHA256 as u32,
+    };
+
+    const SHA1_EMPTY_BLOB: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: *b"\xe6\x9d\xe2\x9b\xb2\xd1\xd6\x43\x4b\x8b\x29\xae\x77\x5a\xd8\xc2\xe4\x8c\x53\x91\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00",
+        algo: Self::SHA1 as u32,
+    };
+    const SHA256_EMPTY_BLOB: ObjectID = ObjectID {
+        hash: *b"\x47\x3a\x0f\x4c\x3b\xe8\xa9\x36\x81\xa2\x67\xe3\xb1\xe9\xa7\xdc\xda\x11\x85\x43\x6f\xe1\x41\xf7\x74\x91\x20\xa3\x03\x72\x18\x13",
+        algo: Self::SHA256 as u32,
+    };
+
+    /// Return a hash algorithm based on the internal integer ID used by Git.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `None` if the algorithm doesn't indicate a valid algorithm.
+    pub const fn from_u32(algo: u32) -> Option<HashAlgorithm> {
+        match algo {
+            1 => Some(HashAlgorithm::SHA1),
+            2 => Some(HashAlgorithm::SHA256),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Return a hash algorithm based on the internal integer ID used by Git.
+    ///
+    /// Returns `None` if the algorithm doesn't indicate a valid algorithm.
+    pub const fn from_format_id(algo: u32) -> Option<HashAlgorithm> {
+        match algo {
+            0x73686131 => Some(HashAlgorithm::SHA1),
+            0x73323536 => Some(HashAlgorithm::SHA256),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The name of this hash algorithm as a string suitable for the configuration file.
+    pub const fn name(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => "sha1",
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => "sha256",
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The format ID of this algorithm for binary formats.
+    ///
+    /// Note that when writing this to a data format, it should be written in big-endian format
+    /// explicitly.
+    pub const fn format_id(self) -> u32 {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => 0x73686131,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => 0x73323536,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The length of binary object IDs in this algorithm in bytes.
+    pub const fn raw_len(self) -> usize {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => 20,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => 32,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The length of object IDs in this algorithm in hexadecimal characters.
+    pub const fn hex_len(self) -> usize {
+        self.raw_len() * 2
+    }
+
+    /// The number of bytes which is processed by one iteration of this algorithm's compression
+    /// function.
+    pub const fn block_size(self) -> usize {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => 64,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => 64,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The object ID representing the empty blob.
+    pub const fn empty_blob(self) -> &'static ObjectID {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => &Self::SHA1_EMPTY_BLOB,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => &Self::SHA256_EMPTY_BLOB,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The object ID representing the empty tree.
+    pub const fn empty_tree(self) -> &'static ObjectID {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => &Self::SHA1_EMPTY_TREE,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => &Self::SHA256_EMPTY_TREE,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The object ID which is all zeros.
+    pub const fn null_oid(self) -> &'static ObjectID {
+        match self {
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA1 => &Self::SHA1_NULL_OID,
+            HashAlgorithm::SHA256 => &Self::SHA256_NULL_OID,
+        }
+    }
+}