generate random UUIDs

README.md

UUID

Returns a random v4 UUID of the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx, where each x is replaced with a random hexadecimal digit from 0 to f, and y is replaced with a random hexadecimal digit from 8 to b.

There's also @LeverOne's approach using iteration, which is one byte shorter.

annotated.js

function b(
  a                  // placeholder
){
  return a           // if the placeholder was passed, return
    ? (              // a random number from 0 to 15
      a ^            // unless b is 8,
      Math.random()  // in which case
      * 16           // a random number from
      >> a/4         // 8 to 11
      ).toString(16) // in hexadecimal
    : (              // or otherwise a concatenated string:
      [1e7] +        // 10000000 +
      -1e3 +         // -1000 +
      -4e3 +         // -4000 +
      -8e3 +         // -80000000 +
      -1e11          // -100000000000,
      ).replace(     // replacing
        /[018]/g,    // zeroes, ones, and eights with
        b            // random hex digits
      )
}

index.js

function b(a){return a?(a^Math.random()*16>>a/4).toString(16):([1e7]+-1e3+-4e3+-8e3+-1e11).replace(/[018]/g,b)}

LICENSE.txt

            DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
                    Version 2, December 2004

 Copyright (C) 2011 Jed Schmidt <http://jed.is>

 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 as the name is changed.

            DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

  0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO.

package.json

{
  "name": "UUID",

  "description": "Generates random UUIDs",

  "keywords": [
    "UUID",
    "ID",
    "random" 
  ]
}

right, you got it. the 1 could be any other digit, really, it's just a placeholder, but the 8 was selected for its bitwise operation properties.

(there's a walkthrough here, fwiw)

@jed thanks! :)

I was perusing the minified source of a website to see how they did something, came across this interesting way to create a GUID, and traced it back to here. I thought it was interestingly minified in the source I was looking at (with an insanely clever minifier!). Made me laugh when I saw that the original was golfed. 😆 A+ on the golfing, BTW! Clever minifier indeed--a clever human minifier. This was really fun to mentally chew on.

For funsies, here's a rough draft on a UUIDv7 generator:

[...Date.now().toString(16).padStart(12,0)].toSpliced(8,0,'-').join``+([-7e3]+-8e3+-1e11).replace(/[018]/g,b=>(b^crypto.rng(1)[0]%16>>b/4).toString(16))