How to generate a version 4 UUID with Python

  • Python
  • Gabriele Romanato

Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) are used in many contexts to uniquely identify resources or entities. Python provides native support for UUID generation through the uuid module. In this article, we will see how to generate a version 4 UUID, which is one of the most commonly used versions.

A version 4 UUID is a completely randomly generated unique identifier. Unlike other versions of UUIDs that can be based on parameters such as the MAC address of the device or the time, version 4 is based only on random numbers. This makes it particularly useful when you want to avoid collisions and need a unique identifier that does not depend on external factors.

To generate a UUID in Python, the first step is to import the uuid module. This module is included in the Python standard library, so there is no need to install additional packages. Then just use the uuid4() function from the uuid module.


import uuid

# Generate a version 4 UUID
uuid_v4 = uuid.uuid4()

print(uuid_v4)

Conclusion

Generating a version 4 UUID in Python is easy with the uuid module. This version of UUID is ideal when you need a unique and random identifier. It is important to remember that even though UUIDs are designed to be unique, there is a small chance of collision, but for most practical applications, this probability is negligible.

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