PHP array_rand() Function

Example

Return an array of random keys:

<?php
$a=array("red","green","blue","yellow","brown");
$random_keys=array_rand($a,3);
echo $a[$random_keys[0]]."<br>";
echo $a[$random_keys[1]]."<br>";
echo $a[$random_keys[2]];
?>

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Definition and Usage

The array_rand() function returns a random key from an array, or it returns an array of random keys if you specify that the function should return more than one key.

Syntax

array_rand(array, number)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
array	Required. Specifies an array
number	Optional. Specifies how many random keys to return

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns a random key from an array, or an array of random keys if you specify that the function should return more than one key
PHP Version:	4+
PHP Changelog:	PHP 7.1: rand() uses the Mersenne Twister random number generator PHP 5.2.1: The resulting array of keys is no longer shuffled PHP 4.2: The random number generator is seeded automatically

More Examples

Example

Return a random key from an array:

<?php
$a=array("a"=>"red","b"=>"green","c"=>"blue","d"=>"yellow");
print_r(array_rand($a,1));
?>

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Example

Return an array of random string keys:

<?php
$a=array("a"=>"red","b"=>"green","c"=>"blue","d"=>"yellow");
print_r(array_rand($a,2));
?>

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❮ PHP Array Reference