UUID
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Programming
| Stands for | Universally unique identifier |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
UUID stands for Universally unique identifier, a programming abbreviation.
A 128-bit identifier written as 32 hexadecimal digits in five groups, such as 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000, generated so that collisions are practically impossible without any central coordination. Databases and APIs use UUIDs as record IDs.
Example: Each upload gets a UUID as its filename so names never clash.
Usage notes
Standardized in RFC 4122 (2005) and updated by RFC 9562 in 2024, which added time-ordered versions 6 and 7. Version 4 is random, with 122 random bits; version 7 sorts by creation time, which suits database indexes. Microsoft's term GUID refers to the same format.
Related abbreviations
More programming abbreviations
- TS – TypeScript
- UAT – User acceptance testing
- UB – Undefined behavior
- UID – User identifier
- UML – Unified Modeling Language
- UTF-8 – Unicode Transformation Format, 8-bit
- VBA – Visual Basic for Applications
- VCS – Version control system
- VS Code – Visual Studio Code
- WET – Write everything twice
- WIP – Work in progress
- WSDL – Web Services Description Language