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Generate UUID in Go ​

The most popular way to generate UUIDs in Go is using the google/uuid package. Here's how to generate a random UUID version 4:

go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/google/uuid"
)

func main() {
    // Generate UUID version 4 - random
    id := uuid.New()
    fmt.Printf("Generated UUID: %s\n", id.String())
}

For generating specific UUID versions, the google/uuid package provides comprehensive support:

go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/google/uuid"
)

func main() {
    // Generate UUID version 1 - time based
    uuid1, err := uuid.NewUUID()
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    fmt.Printf("UUID v1: %s\n", uuid1.String())

    // Generate UUID version 3 - deterministic and hashed with MD5
    namespace := uuid.NameSpaceURL
    uuid3 := uuid.NewMD5(namespace, []byte("https://example.com"))
    fmt.Printf("UUID v3: %s\n", uuid3.String())

    // Generate UUID version 4 - random
    uuid4 := uuid.New()
    fmt.Printf("UUID v4: %s\n", uuid4.String())

    // Generate UUID version 5 - deterministic and hashed with SHA-1
    uuid5 := uuid.NewSHA1(namespace, []byte("https://example.com"))
    fmt.Printf("UUID v5: %s\n", uuid5.String())

    // Generate UUID version 6 - time-ordered (requires additional implementation)
    // Note: v6 and v7 may require additional libraries or custom implementation
    
    // Generate UUID version 7 - time-ordered with random
    // Note: v7 support may require newer versions or additional libraries
}

Installation & Setup ​

Go Modules (Recommended):

bash
go mod init your-project
go get github.com/google/uuid

Legacy GOPATH:

bash
go get github.com/google/uuid

Advanced Usage ​

Parse and Validate UUIDs:

go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/google/uuid"
)

func main() {
    // Parse UUID from string
    uuidStr := "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
    parsedUUID, err := uuid.Parse(uuidStr)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Printf("Invalid UUID: %v\n", err)
        return
    }
    
    fmt.Printf("Parsed UUID: %s\n", parsedUUID.String())
    fmt.Printf("Version: %d\n", parsedUUID.Version())
    fmt.Printf("Variant: %d\n", parsedUUID.Variant())
}

Custom Namespace UUIDs:

go
// Create custom namespace
customNamespace := uuid.MustParse("6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8")

// Generate deterministic UUIDs
uuid3 := uuid.NewMD5(customNamespace, []byte("my-resource"))
uuid5 := uuid.NewSHA1(customNamespace, []byte("my-resource"))

Microservices & Distributed Systems ​

Best Practices for Go Services:

go
type Service struct {
    generateID func() string
}

func NewService() *Service {
    return &Service{
        generateID: func() string {
            return uuid.New().String()
        },
    }
}

// For database-friendly IDs, consider time-ordered UUIDs
func (s *Service) CreateResource() string {
    return s.generateID()
}

UUID Version Comparison ​

Choose the right version for your Go application:

  • Version 1 - Time-based, includes MAC address
  • Version 3 - MD5 namespace-based, deterministic
  • Version 4 - Random, most popular choice
  • Version 5 - SHA-1 namespace-based, more secure than v3
  • Version 6 - Time-ordered, better than v1 for databases
  • Version 7 - Modern time-based with improved sorting

For Go applications:

  • Microservices: Use Version 4 for request IDs and entities
  • Distributed systems: Consider Version 7 for time-ordered events
  • Cloud-native apps: Use Version 6 for database optimization

How do I generate UUID in other languages? ​

Systems programming:

  • Rust - Memory-safe systems programming
  • C++ - High-performance applications

Web and enterprise:

  • JavaScript - crypto.randomUUID() & uuid library
  • Python - Built-in uuid module
  • Java - java.util.UUID & UuidCreator
  • C# - System.Guid & UuidCreator
  • PHP - Built-in functions & ramsey/uuid

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