Math
PHP Manual

rand

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

rand — Generate a random integer

Description

int rand ([ int $min ], int $max )

If called without the optional min , max arguments rand() returns a pseudo-random integer between 0 and RAND_MAX. If you want a random number between 5 and 15 (inclusive), for example, use rand (5, 15).

Note: On some platforms (such as Windows) RAND_MAX is only 32768. If you require a range larger than 32768, specifying min and max will allow you to create a range larger than RAND_MAX, or consider using mt_rand() instead.

Note: As of PHP 4.2.0, there is no need to seed the random number generator with srand() or mt_srand() as this is now done automatically.

Parameters

min

The lowest value to return (default: 0)

max

The highest value to return (default: RAND_MAX)

Return Values

A pseudo random value between min (or 0) and max (or RAND_MAX, inclusive).

ChangeLog

Version Description
Since 3.0.7 In versions before 3.0.7 the meaning of max was range . To get the same results in these versions the short example should be rand (5, 11) to get a random number between 5 and 15.

Examples

Example#1 rand() example

<?php
echo rand() . "\n";
echo 
rand() . "\n";

echo 
rand(515);
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

7771 22264 11

See Also


Math
PHP Manual