A simple UUID generator using C++11.
This program is a simple 128 bit UUID generator using C++11. Please note that this is not an RFC4122 compliant UUID. For more information on the RFC4122 compliant UUID, please refer RFC4122. If you are looking for an RFC4122 compliant UUID , try Boost or you can try libuuid from util-linux.
The structure of this UUID generator is quite simple. It comprises of 3 parts,
Random Number | Time Epoch | Node
-------------------- | --------------- | --------- 60 bits | 52 bits | 16 bits
The Random Number is generated using C++11's Mersenne Twister algorithm.
The Time Epoch or the number of ticks since Jan 1 1970 is generated using C++11's time_since_epoch method.
Node value is currently randomly generated. In a distributed environment, this value would be known beforehand.
Compiling and running
The only requisite for compiling and running this program is to have an IDE/compiler that has C++11 support. I've tested this on VS2012 and gcc 4.8.2. It's a nobrainer running on VS2012. On Linux you have to mention the -std=c++11 flag.
g++ -std=c++11 UUIDGenerator.cpp -o uuid
./uuid
4c2c2f9e-7d1e-3930-164c-aab3643471f7 (Sample Output)
By default it pretty prints. If you would like to have the UUID generated without '-', then just pass 0 as an argument, i.e.
./uuid 0
54b26f6142518200ca6dd0a872874f5e (Sample Output)