nanoid

nanoid is a tiny, secure, URL-friendly, unique string ID generator

key features:

typically shorter than UUIDs, making them more suitable for env where space is concern
optimized for speed, excellent choice for performance-critical applications
uses a secure random number generator ensuring uniqueness and unpredictability

how does it work?

it first generates a series of random bytes
they are then encoded into a URL-friendly format, by default it uses a base64-like encoding with a custom alphabet
the encoded string is truncated or padded to the desired length, resulting in a unique ID

pros:

it's significantly shorter than UUIDs (36 characters long including hyphens) which is helpful for saving storage space and reducing payload sizes in APIs leading to improved performance
generating nanoid IDs is faster than generating UUIDs particularly when using custom alphabets and shorter lengths these benefits are more pronouned in high-throughput systems where large numbers of IDs are generated frequently
use of secure RNGs ensures that the generated IDs are both unique and unpredictable
can customize the length and alphabet of IDs

cons:

compatibility issues with older browsers that do not support the web crypto API
newer and less standardized solution
need to carefully consider the probability of collisions based on the length of generated IDs

use cases: