Goodbye integers, hello UUIDv7 (buildkite.com)

Article summary

Buildkite has adopted UUIDv7 as its primary key, replacing sequential integers and random UUIDs. UUIDv7 offers a time-ordered identifier that combines the benefits of efficient indexing and uniqueness. The company experimented with time-ordered UUIDv4 and observed improved database performance. The adoption of UUIDv7 simplifies application logic and eliminates the need for coordinated identifier generation.

Main themes

• UUIDv7 adoption
• Database performance
• Distributed systems
• Sharding strategies
• Primary key selection
• Query patterns and indexing

What commenters say

• Randomly sharded keys can provide more consistent performance in distributed systems, but may lead to hotspots in certain use cases.
• Sequential storage can be desirable for latency and throughput, but may not always be the best approach.
• UUIDs can be beneficial for data with disjointed access patterns, but may not be necessary for all use cases.
• The choice of primary key depends on the specific use case and query patterns, with no one-size-fits-all solution.
• Distributed databases should consider using hash functions or consistent hashing strategies to shard data effectively.
• The use of UUIDv7 can improve database performance, but may require rearchitecting the data store or adjusting query patterns.