question: public int threeWayDistance ( Key k1 , Key k2 ) { byte [ ] h0 = hash ; byte [ ] h1 = k1 . hash ; byte [ ] h2 = k2 . hash ; int mmi = mismatch ( h1 , h2 ) ; if ( mmi == - 1 ) return 0 ; int h = Byte . toUnsignedInt ( h0 [ mmi ] ) ; int a = Byte . toUnsignedInt ( h1 [ mmi ] ) ; int b = Byte . toUnsignedInt ( h2 [ mmi ] ) ; return Integer . compareUnsigned ( a ^ h , b ^ h ) ; }
target:  Compares the distance of two keys relative to this one using the XOR metric