The Rise of UUIDs
Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) are 128-bit numbers used to identify information in computer systems. Unlike traditional auto-incrementing IDs, UUIDs do not require a central registry to ensure uniqueness.
Pros and Cons of UUIDs
- Pros: Excellent for distributed systems, hides the total number of records from users, and allows for offline ID generation.
- Cons: Larger storage footprint (16 bytes) and slower indexing compared to integers.
When to Use a UUID Generator
If you are building a microservices architecture or a system where security and data privacy are paramount, using a UUID Generator to create non-sequential keys is the industry standard approach.