objective: a function for generating guids of unique entities

guid.js

// objective: a function for generating guids of unique entities
// usage: guid( obj ) => integer

// approach 1
// entities kept in a hash array, key id found by iteration

// pros:
// (1) unobtrusive; doesn't pollute objects with expandos
// (2) ids can't be accidentally deleted/changed
// (3) ids can be assigned to any type of object
// (4) id => entity lookup could be implemented for free

// cons:
// (1) id lookup is O(N), a pretty big deal
// (2) GC memory leaked unless "unset" is implemented

guid1 = function( guid, objs, i ) {
  return function( obj ) {
    for ( i = guid; i--; ) if ( objs[ i ] === obj ) return i
    return objs[ guid ] = obj, guid++  
  }
}( 1, [] )

// approach 2
// ids kept on each object as a property, a la jQuery

// pros:
// (1) id lookup is O(1)
// (2) no memory leaks, since only primitive integers are stored

// cons:
// (1) ids can be erased, may interfere with iteration
// (2) hacky expando string required

guid2 = function( guid, expando ) {
  return function( obj ) {
    if ( obj ) {
      if ( obj[ expando ] ) return obj[ expando ]
      
      obj[ expando ] = guid
  
      if ( obj[ expando ] ) return guid++
    }
  }
}( 1, Date.now().toString( 36 ) )

or if you're okay with unique strings in the style of constructor-name/id:

function guid( obj ) {
  for (
    var type = obj ? obj.constructor.name : obj
      , list = guid[ type ] || ( guid[ type ] = [] )
      , i = list.length
      ; i-- && list[ i ] !== obj;
  );

  return ++i || ( i = list.push( obj ) ), type + "/" + i
}

indexOf is significantly faster than manually iterating. I'd suggest checking for it's existence and falling back to manual iteration.

Also, you would win a JavaScript obfuscation contest. It took me a solid minute to figure out how that 7 line function worked.

i dunno, is indexOf really that much faster?

and yeah, my style is a bit, uh, terse i guess...