Re: A UUID function for web developers

I would suggest that you take a step back and ask yourself what you are
trying to
accomplish. You've now had a number of people tell you that:

- The right way to pursue this is with a standard.
- Firefox isn't likely to add this function without a standard.

You obviously don't like that answer, but I think it's a pretty clear one,
and just
repeating your arguments over and over again isn't likely to change people's
minds (though it is likely to result in them ignoring you). If what you
want is
to continue telling people they have made the wrong decision, then I suppose
that's your right, but if you actually want to get UUID added to the browser
platform, then what you're doing now is useless at best and
counterproductive
at worst.

-Ekr




On Sun, Mar 20, 2016 at 12:20 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

> I agree stepping outside of standards is the last thing browsers should
> do, I'm not even going to target IE or older versions of browsers that lack
> standards support. I also admit I'm being obnoxious, forgive me for that;
> it's not easy pressing an issue, when the expectation was giving a little
> nudge and having the snowball effect keep the thing rolling by itself.
>
> Giving the UUID a type of its own will overly complicate things. What I
> suggest is a function that returns a uuid in the canonical string form.
> Another global function can be provided to turn it into an array of bytes.
> The UUID is probably the simplest construct that exists, analogous to an
> atom, neither divisible nor transformative. It has no business of
> interacting with any other type of construct. It's probably the simplest
> thing you can add to the platform, given its affect on other things in the
> platform is probably zilch. To everyone and everything the UUID is just
> another string, but a very unique one.
>
> Like I've said before, this is a unique circumstance. UUID's are not only
> particularly suited for the Internet, but they're made for it. Browser
> developers have committed a grave mistake by not including a UUID generator
> function long ago, and there seems to be a cover up by not acknowledging
> this huge mistake and taking steps to correct it. Like the saying goes,
> "extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures." This is why
> I insist the function should be added independent of standards.
>
> Think of it like this: It has been virtually added over a decade ago by
> the community at large. Now, you'll sneak in a feature, so the community no
> longer has to add it manually. The community will be happy, and they'll
> call other browsers out for not having this very basic yet essential
> feature. It will become a no-brainer to other browser developers and
> standards bodies to include it in their work.
>
> Whether I believe the absolute uniqueness of the UUID is beside the point;
> what is relevant is that I believe programmers should have access to such
> an entity, and allowed the privilege of believing in its uniqueness, so
> they can develop programs to their hearts content.
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