UUID Generator
Generate RFC-compliant universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) with support for versions 1, 4, and 5. UUIDs are 128-bit identifiers designed to ensure uniqueness across space and time.
UUID Generator
Select the UUID version to generate
Typical Use Cases
UUIDs (Universally Unique Identifiers) are primarily used in software development to generate unique identifiers without requiring a central coordinating authority. In distributed systems and databases, UUIDs help prevent record conflicts and ensure data integrity. They're commonly used as primary keys in databases, identification for documents in NoSQL databases, and as identifiers for API resources.
Different UUID versions serve different purposes: UUID v1 is time-based and contains the MAC address of the computer that generated it, making it traceable but guaranteed unique. UUID v4 is random-based, providing better privacy but a theoretical (though astronomically small) chance of collision. UUID v5 is namespace-based, generating consistent UUIDs from identical inputs, useful for creating identifiers from existing data like URLs or domain names.
UUID Format
- Version (v1-v5): Indicates how the UUID was generated - time-based (v1), random (v4), or namespace-based (v5)
- Variant: Specifies the layout of the UUID, with RFC 4122 being the standard variant
- Format: 32 hexadecimal characters displayed in 5 groups separated by hyphens (8-4-4-4-12)
- Result: A 128-bit value represented as a 36-character string (e.g., 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000)