Best practices on primary key, auto-increment, and UUID in SQL databases

sql

best-practices

performance

database-design

byAnton Shumikhin·Oct 21, 2024

Making a choice between auto-increment and UUID for a primary key depends largely on your database structure. Auto-increment aims for simplicity and speed, perfect for small-scale systems, but be cautious when it comes to scale—as ordered IDs can produce conflicts. On the other hand, UUIDs are designed for distributed databases, ensuring a collision-free environment. But remember, larger storage and potential slower indexing speeds are drawbacks to consider.

Here’s a nifty SQL illustration:

-- Auto-increment: like a self-replicating robot
CREATE TABLE users ( id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY );

-- UUID: forged in the sci-fi future of distributed systems
CREATE TABLE users ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT uuid_generate_v4() );

Choose auto-increment for efficiency in a single system, and UUIDs for unique identification across diverse systems.

Building integrity and bolstering security

Ensure the highest level of data integrity by enforcing unique and non-null constraints on candidate keys. Maintain a cloak of invisibility around your technical keys; reveal UUIDs, not primary keys, to protect your database's internals. Take account of security; UUIDs should be a labyrinth—unpredictable and unguessable.

Adaptability is key

Embrace a design that allows reshaping and changes; during the design phase, you might need to retune the primary key. Having a separate UUID column in readiness gives you a safety net, shielding you from expensive changes and preventive of modifications affecting your database relationships. Remember, flexibility is a superpower.

Performance: The need for speed

There's a need for speed in the world of performance. Choose an auto-increment int as your primary key when employeed in foreign key relationships and when the pedal to the metal is search performance. Remember, caution! String format UUIDs can be a speed bump introducing inefficiencies. And here's a tip, databases have their unique implementations of UUIDs that could help you overtake others on the performance highway.

Bump up to UUIDs

In some scenarios, UUIDs aren't just an option—they're a requirement. Criss-crossing architectures, microservices, and bulky systems doing the heavy-lifting of scaling up often need UUIDs for their global uniqueness. But keep it human. Consider deploying a text "slug" for user-friendly URLs that maintain their non-predictable nature.

Handling UUIDs: Don't drop the groove

Each database has its beats to handle UUIDs. Like PostgreSQL offering uuid-ossp to enhance insert performance. Remember, indexing UUIDs is a different dance than simple integers. So, use the right index types and play with database features to keep things smooth.

Keeping an eye on future tech changes

Future-proof your database schema by considering the impact of shifting tech paradigms. Remember, a primary key, once deeply embedded in foreign key relationships across multiple tables, will require lots of refactoring to adapt to technology switches.

explain-codes / Sql / Best practices on primary key, auto-increment, and UUID in SQL databases

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