DynamoDB hash key int vs string

Question

I've tried using UUID's integer representation as integer hash key in DynamoDB, but that has failed with error:

DynamoDBValidationError: DynamoDBValidationError: 400 Bad Request
{'message': 'Attempting to store more than 38 significant digits in a Number', 
 '__type': 'com.amazon.coral.validate#ValidationException'}

Which on one hand makes sense, as UUIDs are 128-bit, which can be up to 39 decimal digits. On the other hand it made me wonder...

Does DynamoDB store integer hash key as it's decimal representation? Is there any advantage of using integer hash key over string hash key?

Jon · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 05:15:15Z

7

DynamoDB serializes numbers so there shouldn't be any advantage of using an integer hash key over a string hash key.

Serialized numbers are sent to Amazon DynamoDB as String types, which maximizes compatibility across languages and libraries, however Amazon DynamoDB handles them as the Number type for mathematical operations.

http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/DataModel.html

answered May 27, 2013 at 5:15

Jon

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Garret Wilson Over a year ago

DynamoDB sends numbers over the wire as strings, but what you quoted has nothing to do necessarily with how DynamoDB stores the values once they arrive at DynamoDB and are deserialized. I understand the question to be whether a numerical key would be more efficient stored in the DynamoDB table, by taking up less space and/or by providing faster lookups, and this answer doesn't address that.

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