ActiveState Code

Recipe 576918: Python Short URL Generator

Python implementation for generating Tiny URL- and bit.ly-like URLs.

Python 
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# Short URL Generator

DEFAULT_ALPHABET = 'JedR8LNFY2j6MrhkBSADUyfP5amuH9xQCX4VqbgpsGtnW7vc3TwKE'
DEFAULT_BLOCK_SIZE = 22

class UrlEncoder(object):
    def __init__(self, alphabet=DEFAULT_ALPHABET, block_size=DEFAULT_BLOCK_SIZE):
        self.alphabet = alphabet
        self.block_size = block_size
        self.mask = (1 << block_size) - 1
        self.mapping = range(block_size)
        self.mapping.reverse()
    def encode_url(self, n, min_length=0):
        return self.enbase(self.encode(n), min_length)
    def decode_url(self, n):
        return self.decode(self.debase(n))
    def encode(self, n):
        return (n & ~self.mask) | self._encode(n & self.mask)
    def _encode(self, n):
        result = 0
        for i, b in enumerate(self.mapping):
            if n & (1 << i):
                result |= (1 << b)
        return result
    def decode(self, n):
        return (n & ~self.mask) | self._decode(n & self.mask)
    def _decode(self, n):
        result = 0
        for i, b in enumerate(self.mapping):
            if n & (1 << b):
                result |= (1 << i)
        return result
    def enbase(self, x, min_length=0):
        result = self._enbase(x)
        padding = self.alphabet[0] * (min_length - len(result))
        return '%s%s' % (padding, result)
    def _enbase(self, x):
        n = len(self.alphabet)
        if x < n:
            return self.alphabet[x]
        return enbase(x/n) + self.alphabet[x%n]
    def debase(self, x):
        n = len(self.alphabet)
        result = 0
        for i, c in enumerate(reversed(x)):
            result += self.alphabet.index(c) * (n**i)
        return result
        
DEFAULT_ENCODER = UrlEncoder()

def encode(n):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.encode(n)
    
def decode(n):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.decode(n)
    
def enbase(n, min_length=0):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.enbase(n, min_length)
    
def debase(n):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.debase(n)
    
def encode_url(n, min_length=0):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.encode_url(n, min_length)
    
def decode_url(n):
    return DEFAULT_ENCODER.decode_url(n)
    
if __name__ == '__main__':
    for a in range(0, 200000, 37):
        b = encode(a)
        c = enbase(b)
        d = debase(c)
        e = decode(d)
        assert a == e
        assert b == d
        c = (' ' * (7 - len(c))) + c
        print '%6d %12d %s %12d %6d' % (a, b, c, d, e)

Discussion

Short URL Generator

Python implementation for generating Tiny URL- and bit.ly-like URLs.

A bit-shuffling approach is used to avoid generating consecutive, predictable URLs. However, the algorithm is deterministic and will guarantee that no collisions will occur.

The URL alphabet is fully customizable and may contain any number of characters. By default, digits, upper- and lower-case letters are used, with some removed to avoid confusion between characters like o, O and 0. The default alphabet is shuffled and has a prime number of characters to further improve the results of the algorithm.

The block size specifies how many bits will be shuffled. The lower BLOCK_SIZE bits are reversed. Any bits higher than BLOCK_SIZE will remain as is. BLOCK_SIZE of 0 will leave all bits unaffected and the algorithm will simply be converting your integer to a different base.

The intended use is that incrementing, consecutive integers will be used as keys to generate the short URLs. For example, when creating a new URL, the unique integer ID assigned by a database could be used to generate the URL by using this module. Or a simple counter may be used. As long as the same integer is not used twice, the same short URL will not be generated twice.

The module supports both encoding and decoding of URLs. The min_length parameter allows you to pad the URL if you want it to be a specific length.

Sample Usage:

>>> import short_url
>>> url = short_url.encode_url(12)
>>> print url
LhKA
>>> key = short_url.decode_url(url)
>>> print key
12

Use the functions in the top-level of the module to use the default encoder. Otherwise, you may create your own UrlEncoder object and use its encode_url and decode_url methods.

Comments

  1. 1. At 6:10 a.m. on 8 nov 2009, J Singh said:

    A minor error: Line 41 should be

    return self.enbase(x/n) + self.alphabet[x%n]

    Thanks for the recipe. It is well conceived, well written code.

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