YouTube-like GUID

Question

Is it possible to generate short GUID like in YouTube (N7Et6c9nL9w)?

How can it be done? I want to use it in web app.

Answer 1

You could use Base64:

string base64Guid = Convert.ToBase64String(Guid.NewGuid().ToByteArray());

That generates a string like E1HKfn68Pkms5zsZsvKONw==. Since a GUID is always 128 bits, you can omit the == that you know will always be present at the end and that will give you a 22 character string. This isn't as short as YouTube though.