So we can generate a unique id with str(uuid.uuid4()), which is 36 characters long.
Is there another method to generate a unique ID which is shorter in terms of characters?
EDIT:
If this is for use as a primary key field in db, consider just using auto-incrementing integer instead.
str(uuid.uuid4()) is 36 chars but it has four useless dashes (-) in it, and it's limited to 0-9 a-f.
Better uuid4 in 32 chars:
>>> uuid.uuid4().hex
'b327fc1b6a2343e48af311343fc3f5a8'
Or just b64 encode and slice some urandom bytes (up to you to guarantee uniqueness):
>>> base64.b64encode(os.urandom(32))[:8]
b'iR4hZqs9'
TLDR
Most of the times it's better to work with numbers internally and encode them to short IDs externally. So here's a function for Python3, PowerShell & VBA that will convert an int32 to an alphanumeric ID. Use it like this:
int32_to_id(225204568)
'F2AXP8'
For distributed code use ULIDs: https://github.com/mdipierro/ulid
They are much longer but unique across different machines.
How short are the IDs?
It will encode about half a billion IDs in 6 characters so it's as compact as possible while still using only non-ambiguous digits and letters.
How can I get even shorter IDs?
If you want even more compact IDs/codes/Serial Numbers, you can easily expand the character set by just changing the chars="..." definition. For example if you allow all lower and upper case letters you can have 56 billion IDs within the same 6 characters. Adding a few symbols (like ~!@#$%^&*()_+-=) gives you 208 billion IDs.
So why didn't you go for the shortest possible IDs?
The character set I'm using in my code has an advantage: It generates IDs that are easy to copy-paste (no symbols so double clicking selects the whole ID), easy to read without mistakes (no look-alike characters like 2 and Z) and rather easy to communicate verbally (only upper case letters). Sticking to numeric digits only is your best option for verbal communication but they are not compact.
I'm convinced: show me the code
Python 3
def int32_to_id(n):
if n==0: return "0"
chars="0123456789ACEFHJKLMNPRTUVWXY"
length=len(chars)
result=""
remain=n
while remain>0:
pos = remain % length
remain = remain // length
result = chars[pos] + result
return result
PowerShell
function int32_to_id($n){
$chars="0123456789ACEFHJKLMNPRTUVWXY"
$length=$chars.length
$result=""; $remain=[int]$n
do {
$pos = $remain % $length
$remain = [int][Math]::Floor($remain / $length)
$result = $chars[$pos] + $result
} while ($remain -gt 0)
$result
}
VBA
Function int32_to_id(n)
Dim chars$, length, result$, remain, pos
If n = 0 Then int32_to_id = "0": Exit Function
chars$ = "0123456789ACEFHJKLMNPRTUVWXY"
length = Len(chars$)
result$ = ""
remain = n
Do While (remain > 0)
pos = remain Mod length
remain = Int(remain / length)
result$ = Mid(chars$, pos + 1, 1) + result$
Loop
int32_to_id = result
End Function
Function id_to_int32(id$)
Dim chars$, length, result, remain, pos, value, power
chars$ = "0123456789ACEFHJKLMNPRTUVWXY"
length = Len(chars$)
result = 0
power = 1
For pos = Len(id$) To 1 Step -1
result = result + (InStr(chars$, Mid(id$, pos, 1)) - 1) * power
power = power * length
Next
id_to_int32 = result
End Function
Public Sub test_id_to_int32()
Dim i
For i = 0 To 28 ^ 3
If id_to_int32(int32_to_id(i)) <> i Then Debug.Print "Error, i=", i, "int32_to_id(i)", int32_to_id(i), "id_to_int32('" & int32_to_id(i) & "')", id_to_int32(int32_to_id(i))
Next
Debug.Print "Done testing"
End Sub
Yes. Just use the current UTC millis. This number never repeats.
const uniqueID = new Date().getTime();
EDIT
If you have the rather seldom requirement to produce more than one ID within the same millisecond, this method is of no use as this number‘s granularity is 1ms.