human-readable-ids-js

Use JavaScript to generate human-readable ids from a lists of nouns and adjectives.

Generate ids in the format of adjective-noun-# such as

• silly-goose-37
• quick-cobra-15
• tricky-chicken-23
• brave-ladybug-90

My problem is that I often want ids that I can type without having to look at twice (nor telling someone else twice).

I should be able to shout one of these ids across the room to a co-worker or spouse and have them be able to enter it without any confusion.

Currently the id space is about 1,000,000 ids (100 * 100 * 100).

The goal is to have several billion possible combinations by adding more words as well as expanding the ids to have verbs and adverbs.

For a larger address space now, consider:

• Human Readable IDs for Node.js and Browser: https://github.com/linus/greg/
• Human Readable IDs for Java: https://github.com/PerWiklander/IdentifierSentence
• Human Readable IDs for Python: https://gist.github.com/4447660

All of these also have the benefit of bi-directional conversion, but not all of them have words which are easy to pronounce and spell.

Usage

npm

npm install --save human-readable-ids

'use strict';

var hri = require('human-readable-ids').hri
  , i
  ;

// generate 100 random ids
for (i = 0; i < 100; i += 1) {
  console.log(hri.random());
}

bower / browser

bower install --save human-readable-ids

html
  head
    script(src="bower_components/knuth-shuffle/index.js")
    script(src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/assets/animals.js")
    script(src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/assets/adjectives.js")
    script(src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/index.js")

    <script src="bower_components/knuth-shuffle/index.js"></script>
    <script src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/assets/animals.js"></script>
    <script src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/assets/adjectives.js"></script>
    <script src="bower_components/human-readable-ids/index.js"></script>

;(function (exports) {
  'use strict';

  var hri = exports.humanReadableIds || require('human-readable-ids').hri
    , i
    ;

  for (i = 0; i < 100; i += 1) {
    console.log(hri.random());
  }
}('undefined' !== typeof exports && exports || new Function('return this')()));

Contributing

Please add more words that fit these criteria

• Easy-to-spell - such that even my redneck dad can manage
• Phonetically distinct - no words like bore/boar
• Few syllables
• Well-known

All of the words are sorted alphabetically (sort -u) and stored in the *.txt files. The pre-publish script outputs the formatted javascript.

Bad Examples

• wednesday, hamster, ostrich (difficult to spell)
• grey, gray, bore, boar (two ways of spelling the same word or sound)
• prawn (not well-known)

Resources

Add more words and strategies from

• http://blog.asana.com/2011/09/6-sad-squid-snuggle-softly/
• The Dolch List http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch-words-all.html
• http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Basic_English_alphabetical_wordlist
• https://github.com/zacharyvoase/humanhash
• https://gist.github.com/ucnv/1121015
• https://gist.github.com/vikhyat/105610
• http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_1000_basic_words
• http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/adverbs/list-of-100-adverbs.html

TODO

Acheive 1 trillion ids with a combination such as

number adjective noun verb adverb

42-red-foxes-run-quickly

And allow choosing various formats based on the desired number of ids.

• adjective noun number
• number adjective noun verb