A generator for human-friendly, readable license keys and serial numbers by www.barbez.eu.
Produces license keys you don't mind spelling out loud to another person.
The Barbez.eu license key generator is ideal for all your license key or serial number generation needs, producing keys or serials that are easy to read out loud one human to another. Yet, the algorithm is quick enough to generate a decent amount of them in a short period of time.
- NuGet Packages and Demo app
- Features
- Custom Resulting-Sum Algorithm
- Performance
- Stats
- Using the Generator
- Using the Verifier
- Disclaimer
- Author
Get the generator NuGet package from https://www.nuget.org/packages/BarbezDotEu.License.Generation/ or use
Install-Package BarbezDotEu.License.Generation
Get the verifier NuGet package from https://www.nuget.org/packages/BarbezDotEu.License.Verification/ or use
Install-Package BarbezDotEu.License.Verification
A demo project using this generic library can be found at https://github.com/hannesbarbez/BarbezDotEu.License.Generator.WinForms.
- Full multithreading, thanks to .NET Core’s TPL (Task Parallel Library);
- Custom “resulting-sum” algorithm to generate a bunch of unique license keys quickly;
- On-the-fly license key validator;
- Decoupling, e.g. strict separation between UI and logic;
- Generated license keys that are easy for people to spell out loud;
- Native support for async/await.
Lacking academic knowledge on serial number or license key generation algos, the generator algorithm is my own idea, so I’ve decided to dub it “resulting-sum”. More info on the exact workings to follow, for now the source code should suffice to explain its inner workings.
After running a couple of tests on an AMD Ryzen 1600 (6 cores, 12 threads) based machine, I compiled a short table with the results.
On this hardware, a ResultingSum of 68 takes Y time to generate X number of unique keys, and are shown in the below table.
Results will differ for other ResultingSum values. For a value of 68, about 80 000 unique keys are generated in under 5 seconds, whereas 150 000 unique keys take about 19 seconds.
Note: these stats are from version 3.0.0 of the generator, which is much faster than the initial version.
A "resulting sum" of 68 takes Y time to render/generate X number of unique keys on a Ryzen 1600 based machine.
| Keys (X) | Time (ms, Y) | ms/key (=Y/X) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 14 |
| 10 | 14 | 1.4 |
| 100 | 22 | .22 |
| 1 000 | 209 | .21 |
| 2 500 | 218 | .09 |
| 5 000 | 402 | .08 |
| 10 000 | 703 | .07 |
| 20 000 | 1 472 | .07 |
| 30 000 | 2 007 | .07 |
| 50 000 | 3 365 | .07 |
| 62 500 | 4 220 | .07 |
| 75 000 | 4 867 | .06 |
| 87 500 | 5 733 | .07 |
| 100 000 | 6 379 | .06 |
| 150 000 | 9 550 | .06 |
| 300 000 | 19 291 | .06 |
| 1 000 000 | 63 035 | .06 |
How to use BarbezDotEu.License.Generation.
BarbezDotEu.License.Generation
Basic key generator class.
Constructs a new KeyGenerator.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| resultingSum | System.Int32 | The expected "sum" of the key. All keys share the same "sum", which is what makes the key validatable. Negative or default values are not valid. |
| divider | System.String | The desored division in between segments of the license key. |
One or more parameters are invalid. NULL, negative, empty or default values are not valid parameters.
Generates a number of license keys.
The generated license keys.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| numberOfKeys | System.UInt32 | The amount of keys to generate. |
| excludedKeys | System.String[] | Keys that cannot be present in the resulting key set. |
How to use BarbezDotEu.License.Verification.
BarbezDotEu.License.Verification
Basic key verifier class.
Constructs a new basic key verifier (verificator, lat.)
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| resultingSum | System.Int32 | The resulting sum that has to be met for a key to be valid. |
| divider | System.String | The divider (e.g. "-") expected to be found in between different segments of a key. |
One or more parameters are invalid. NULL, negative, empty or default values are not valid parameters.
Checks if inputted key is valid
True if valid, false if invalid.
This method has no parameters.
Checks if a segment valid.
True if valid, false if invalid.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| segment | System.String | The segment to interpret. |
Checks if a key is valid as well as all of its segments.
True if the key is valid; false otherwise.
This method has no parameters.
Verifies a given key.
TRUE if the key is valid. False, otherwise.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| key | System.String | The key to verify. |
The code in this repository was written for and used within a variety of Barbez.eu apps distributed via Amazon.com in the late 2010's.
If you're looking for a license key generator that is "uncrackable", this is one is not for you (also, both generator and verificator are open source). You can however consider using it as a base for your own license key generator, perhaps.