UUIDs in 10 Languages — Part 7: UUID Generation in Even More Languages

We’ve covered Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, C++, and more. But UUIDs are everywhere — including in languages and tools not always seen as “UUID-native.”

In this bonus post, we explore five more environments:

TypeScript (Node.js)
Scala
SQL databases (PostgreSQL & MySQL)
Elixir/Erlang
Bash (yes, really)

✨ TypeScript: Type-Safe UUIDs

Use the popular uuid package:

🔧 Install

bash

npm install uuid

📦 Generate UUIDs

import { v4 as uuidv4, validate, version } from 'uuid';

const id = uuidv4();
console.log("UUIDv4:", id);
console.log("Valid?", validate(id));
console.log("Version:", version(id));

✅ Tips

Validate UUIDs before persisting or transmitting
Use type-safe UUID wrappers in domain-driven projects (e.g. Branded<T> in TypeScript)

☕ Scala: Java UUIDs with Functional Flair

Scala uses java.util.UUID from the JVM ecosystem.

📦 Example

scala

import java.util.UUID

val id = UUID.randomUUID()
println(s"Generated UUID: $id")

💡 In Play Framework / JSON

scala

import play.api.libs.json._

implicit val uuidFormat: Format[UUID] = Format(
  Reads.uuid,
  Writes { uuid => JsString(uuid.toString) }
)

🛢️ SQL: Native UUIDs in PostgreSQL and MySQL

🔹 PostgreSQL

Postgres has a native uuid type.

sql

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "pgcrypto";

SELECT gen_random_uuid();

✅ Use in Tables

sql

CREATE TABLE users (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  name TEXT
);

🔹 MySQL

MySQL (8.0+) supports UUID() and UUID_TO_BIN().

sql

SELECT UUID();

-- Better storage
SELECT UUID_TO_BIN(UUID(), true);

🌄 Elixir & Erlang

🔧 Elixir

Use Ecto.UUID or the uuid package:

elixir

UUID.uuid4()
# "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"

Add to mix.exs:

elixir

{:uuid, "~> 1.1"}

Use Ecto.UUID to auto-generate DB keys in Phoenix:

elixir

@primary_key {:id, :binary_id, autogenerate: true}

🧱 Erlang

erlang

uuid:uuid_to_string(uuid:get_v4()).

Ensure the uuid module is available (OTP 24+ or add rebar dependency).

🐚 Bash and Shell Scripts

Many Unix-like systems include uuidgen.

bash

uuidgen
# Output: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

🔄 Pipe to API, Script, or DB Insert

bash

curl -X POST -d "id=$(uuidgen)" https://your-api

📘 Summary Table

Language/Tool	Function	Notes
TypeScript	`uuid.v4()`	Strong typing, validation helpers
Scala	`UUID.randomUUID()`	JVM-native, interoperable
PostgreSQL	`gen_random_uuid()`	Compact, indexed, native UUID
MySQL	`UUID_TO_BIN(UUID())`	16-byte binary storage preferred
Elixir	`UUID.uuid4()`	Easy integration with Ecto
Bash	`uuidgen`	Great for automation and ops

Final Thoughts

UUIDs are everywhere — not just in backend-heavy stacks, but in shell scripts, functional languages, and databases too.

Whether you're building microservices, writing migrations, scripting ops tasks, or crafting live dashboards, UUIDs remain one of the simplest and most effective building blocks.

🧩 And now that you’ve seen UUIDs in 10+ languages... you’re officially fluent.

"UUIDs in 10 Languages" Part 7: UUID Generation in Even More Languages