This exceedingly uninformed rant makes more sense when you understand that the author has his own timestamp format he wants to push.
Counterpoints:
- UUID is not random characters, it's a 128 bit number and is stored as such in many databases. It can be presented as a hex-string with dash-separators, but it doesn't have to be.
- There are several types of UUIDs. UUIDv4 is mostly just random bits. Others have time and machine numbering, like Snowflake IDs. UUIDv7 has a combination of time and randomness.
- UUIDv7 was made to address the database index problem, rendering that point moot.
Lots of tools understand and/or support UUIDs.
You can complain about the overhead of storing and indexing 128 bit numbers if you want, but realize that a string like 2025_P5U5_326662 is likely also going to be stored as 128 bits. And the added value of having the year in front (the rest is not going to mean anything to the average user) is not that great.
Counterpoints:
- UUID is not random characters, it's a 128 bit number and is stored as such in many databases. It can be presented as a hex-string with dash-separators, but it doesn't have to be.
- There are several types of UUIDs. UUIDv4 is mostly just random bits. Others have time and machine numbering, like Snowflake IDs. UUIDv7 has a combination of time and randomness.
- UUIDv7 was made to address the database index problem, rendering that point moot.
Lots of tools understand and/or support UUIDs.
You can complain about the overhead of storing and indexing 128 bit numbers if you want, but realize that a string like 2025_P5U5_326662 is likely also going to be stored as 128 bits. And the added value of having the year in front (the rest is not going to mean anything to the average user) is not that great.