Firebase android : make username unique

Question

Parse will shut down at the end of the year, so I decided to start using Firebase. I need to implement a register process with 3 fields : email, username, password (

Answer 1

Save usernames as suggested by Frank but when you save usernames, use runTransaction function in Firebase to make sure that the username is not taken. This function is guaranteed by Firebase to be an atomic operation so you can be rest assured of no collision

firebaseRef.child("usernames").child(username).runTransaction(new Transaction.Handler() {
    @Override
    public Transaction.Result doTransaction(MutableData mutableData) {
        if (mutableData.getValue() == null) {
            mutableData.setValue(authData.getUid());
            return Transaction.success(mutableData);
        }

        return Transaction.abort();
    }

    @Override
    public void onComplete(FirebaseError firebaseError, boolean commited, DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {
        if (commited) {
            // username saved
        } else {
            // username exists
        }
    }
});