2 ms·
Certainly I agree that UUIDs aren't going to collide. But UUIDs were created to solve a problem most people don't have - how to ensure unique IDs when there is
by mark-r 12y ago
Certainly I agree that UUIDs aren't going to collide. But UUIDs were created to solve a problem most people don't have - how to ensure unique IDs when there is absolutely no communication between the parties generating the IDs. The article was suggesting one alternative to the UUID, and I suggested another.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoSure but why? We have UUID's and good generators. Run with it. UUIDs solve a problem many, many people do have - identifying things over time and space - without having to even consider communication/coordination. That's a very powerful property.
- mark-r 12y agoAgain, I'm not arguing that UUIDs aren't a powerful tool. But the article points out two problems with them - they're inconveniently long when you expose them to the user, and they lead to a fragmented database because they're not generated in order. If those problems matter to you, then you look for an alternative. If they don't, then the UUID is the go-to solution.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoVery true. Some help: Inside a self-consistent database you might index the UUIDs and use the index internally to link them other places. Or something like that. Its work. If more use were made of UUIDs, databases would handle them better and that's probably going to happen.