presents VS uuid7

I’ve been working on a robust scheme for encrypted sequential IDs, which is done, including implementations in Rust, JavaScript and Python, pending just a smidgeon more writing about it and reviewing a decision on naming. You store an integer in the database, then encrypt it with a real block cipher, and stringify with Base58. I have three modes: one for 32-bit IDs, using Speck32/64 and producing 4–6 character IDs; one for 64-bit IDs, using Speck64/128 and producing 8–11 character IDs; and one hybrid, using the 32-bit mode for IDs below 2³² and the 64-bit mode above that, providing both a forwards-compatibility measure and a way of producing short IDs as long as possible. Contact me (see my profile) if you’re interested, or I’ll probably publish it in another day or two. Trouble is that I’ve been getting distracted with other related concepts, like optimally-short encoding by using encryption domains [0, 58¹), [58¹, 58²), …, [58¹⁰, 2⁶⁴) (this is format-preserving encryption; the main reputable and practical choices I’ve found are Hasty Pudding, which I’ve just about finished implementing but would like test vectors for but they’re on a dead FTP site, and NIST’s FF1 and FF3, which are patent-encumbered), and ways of avoiding undesirable patterns (curse words and such) by skipping integers from the database’s ID sequence if they encode to what you don’t want, and check characters with the Damm algorithm. If I didn’t keep getting distracted with these things, I’d have published a couple of weeks ago.

(I am not aware of any open-source library embodying a scheme like what I propose—all that I’ve found have either reduced scope or badly broken encryption; https://github.com/yi-jiayu/presents is sound, but doesn’t stringify; Hashids is broken almost beyond belief and should not be considered encryption; Optimus uses an extremely weak encryption.)

Snowflake does not support UUID 7. What you could do is import UUID7 Python module and implement a Python UDF.

To summarise the differences:

* UUIDv6 - sortable, with a layout matching UUIDv1 for backward compatibility, except the time chunks have been reordered so the uuid sorts chronologically

* UUIDv7 - sortable, based on nanoseconds since the Unix epoch. Simpler layout than UUIDv6 and more flexibility about the number of bits allocated to the time part versus sequence and randomness. The nice aspect here is the uuids sort chronologically even when created by systems using different numbers of time bits.

* UUIDv8 - more flexibility for layout. Should only be used if UUIDv6/7 aren't suitable. Which of course makes them specific to that one application which knows how to encode/decode them.

UUIDv7 is thus the better choice in general.

(I recently wrote Python and C# implementations - https://github.com/stevesimmons/uuid7 and https://github.com/stevesimmons/uuid7-csharp)