uuid

What is uuid?

The uuid npm package is used to generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs), which are 128-bit numbers used to uniquely identify information in computer systems. The package supports multiple versions of UUIDs, each with different methods of generation based on requirements such as randomness, time-based generation, and name-based generation using namespaces.

What are uuid's main functionalities?

Generate UUID v1

Generates a version 1 UUID based on timestamp and MAC address of the host machine, ensuring temporal uniqueness.

const { v1: uuidv1 } = require('uuid');
console.log(uuidv1());

Generate UUID v4

Generates a version 4 UUID using random or pseudo-random numbers, providing a higher degree of randomness.

const { v4: uuidv4 } = require('uuid');
console.log(uuidv4());

Generate UUID v3

Generates a version 3 UUID using MD5 hashing of a namespace identifier and a name.

const { v3: uuidv3 } = require('uuid');
const MY_NAMESPACE = '1b671a64-40d5-491e-99b0-da01ff1f3341';
console.log(uuidv3('Hello, World!', MY_NAMESPACE));

Generate UUID v5

Generates a version 5 UUID using SHA-1 hashing of a namespace identifier and a name, providing better uniqueness and lower collision probability than v3.

const { v5: uuidv5 } = require('uuid');
const MY_NAMESPACE = '1b671a64-40d5-491e-99b0-da01ff1f3341';
console.log(uuidv5('Hello, World!', MY_NAMESPACE));

Other packages similar to uuid

shortid

ShortId generates short, non-sequential, URL-friendly unique ids. Unlike uuid, which generates 128-bit long UUIDs, ShortId creates shorter ids, which can be easier to use in URLs or when space is limited. However, ShortId is not recommended for security-critical applications due to the shorter identifier length and lower entropy.

nanoid

NanoId is a tiny, secure, URL-friendly, unique string ID generator for JavaScript. It is similar to uuid v4 in that it provides a way to generate random IDs, but it offers a customizable alphabet and length, allowing for a wider range of possible IDs. NanoId claims to be faster and more compact than UUID, making it a good alternative for many applications.

cuid

CUID (Collision-resistant Unique Identifier) is another alternative for generating unique identifiers. It is designed to be more collision-resistant than uuid and is optimized for horizontal scaling and sequential lookup performance. CUIDs are longer than UUIDs and contain a timestamp, which can be useful for sorting records in a database.