objectidentificator

Objectidentificator is a general term for a mechanism that uniquely identifies an object within a collection, system, or domain. It applies to software objects, data records, digital resources, and physical items that are represented in a digital or managed context. The primary role of an objectidentificator is to provide a stable reference that can be used to retrieve, refer to, or verify the object across processes, services, or time.

In contrast to the concept of object identity in programming languages, which may reference an in-memory location, an objectidentificator is usually a persistent value assigned to the object. It is designed to remain stable even if the object's state changes, moves, or is replicated.

Common implementations include universally unique identifiers (UUIDs or GUIDs), primary keys in relational databases, digital object identifiers (DOIs), irreducible resource identifiers (URIs/URLs), and file system inodes. Each has a different scope and generation method: UUIDs aim for global uniqueness without a centralized authority, DOIs provide persistent identifiers for scholarly objects, and database keys support efficient querying within a schema.

Design considerations include ensuring global or local uniqueness, immutability, namespace management, and the intended lifetime of the identifier. Generation methods may be random, time-based, or sequential, and practitioners must decide whether to expose identifiers publicly or restrict access for privacy or security.

Typical use cases include user accounts identified by a UUID, documents stored with a DOI or URI, or files and records tracked by primary keys in a database. In distributed systems, objectidentificators enable reference integrity across services and versions.

See also: object identity; persistent identifiers; UUID; DOI; URI.