Tech Choice Comparisons

1. Short Slug Generation: Nanoid vs MD5 Hash Truncation vs Base62 Auto-Increment vs UUIDv4

Criteria	Nanoid (Chosen)	MD5 / SHA-256 Truncation	Base62 Auto-Increment	UUIDv4
Slug Length	7 characters	7-8 characters	Variable (1 to 6 chars)	36 characters (Too long)
Collision Risk	Negligible ($64^7$ space)	High after truncation	Zero (Monotonic ID)	Zero
Information Leakage	None (cryptographically random)	None	High (Competitor counts)	None
Coordination Overhead	Zero (Distributed)	Zero	Requires centralized sequence	Zero

Why Chosen: Nanoid provides collision resistance, zero coordination overhead, and complete privacy without exposing total business volume through sequential IDs.

2. Redirection Status: HTTP 302 Found vs HTTP 301 Moved Permanently

Criteria	HTTP 302 (Chosen)	HTTP 301
Browser Caching	No caching (requests hit server every time)	Cached aggressively by browser
Analytics Accuracy	100% accurate per-click tracking	Drops drastically after first visit
Server Load	Handles every click event	Zero load on repeated clicks

Why Chosen: URL shorteners rely heavily on accurate telemetry and analytics for creators; HTTP 301 completely undermines this capability.