PHP array_rand() Function
Topic: PHP Array ReferencePrev|Next
Description
The array_rand() function returns one or more random keys from an array.
The following table summarizes the technical details of this function.
| Return Value: | Returns a random key or an array of random keys from an array. |
|---|---|
| Changelog: |
Since PHP 7.1.0, the internal randomization algorithm has been changed to use the Mersenne Twister random number generator instead of the libc rand function. Since PHP 5.2.1, the resulting array of keys is no longer shuffled.
|
| Version: | PHP 4+ |
Syntax
The basic syntax of the array_rand() function is given with:
The following example shows the array_rand() function in action.
Example
Run this code »<?php
// Sample array
$colors = array("red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "orange");
// Getting two random keys from the colors array
$rand_keys = array_rand($colors, 2);
print_r($rand_keys);
// Printing corresponding values from colors array
echo $colors[$rand_keys[0]] . "<br>";
echo $colors[$rand_keys[1]];
?>Note: If you try to pick more elements than there are in the array, the array_rand() function will throw an E_WARNING level error, and NULL will be returned.
Parameters
The array_rand() function accepts the following parameters.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| array | Required. Specifies the array to work on. |
| num | Optional. Specifies how many random keys to return. |
More Examples
Here're some more examples showing how array_rand() function actually works:
This function can also be used with the associative array, here's an example:
Example
Run this code »<?php
// Sample array
$alphabets = array("a"=>"apple", "b"=>"ball", "c"=>"cat", "d"=>"dog");
// Getting three random keys from the alphabets array
$rand_keys = array_rand($alphabets, 3);
print_r($rand_keys);
// Printing corresponding values from alphabets array using loop
foreach($rand_keys as $key){
echo $alphabets[$key] . "<br>";
}
?>
