I have an array with values,
$member[1] = "John";
$member[2] = "Mary";
$member[3] = "Berry";
$member[4] = "James";
$member[5] = "Lincoln";
I can show them randomly using
echo $member[rand(1,5)];
echo $member[rand(1,5)];
echo $member[rand(1,5)];
echo $member[rand(1,5)];
echo $member[rand(1,5)];
But this way, a member can show up twice or even more! What is the correct and professional way to show them only once randomly ?
If you want to consume the entire array at random order use shuffle.
shuffle($member);
foreach($member as $memberName) {
echo $memberName;
}
If you want to select one or more elements from the array at random use array_rand.
Let's say you want to select 3 members from the array at random, with the guarantee that you will never pick the same array value twice.
foreach(array_rand($member, 3) as $key) {
echo $member[$key];
}
$members in the second example instead of $member. Thanks.Another choice,
$random_keys=array_rand($member,count($member));
echo $member[$random_keys[0]];
echo $member[$random_keys[1]];
echo $member[$random_keys[2]];
echo $member[$random_keys[3]];
echo $member[$random_keys[4]];
$member, because array_rand gives you random selection, not random distribution. So when you want to consume the entire array in random order it's better to just use shuffle, but if you want limited random selection and not random distribution, array_rand works fine. Also, you're using echo $a[[$random_keys[0]] when it should be echo $member[$random_keys[0]].
shuffle. We can use array_rand when we want to limited random selection.shuffle($random_keys) if you wanted. I may have been a bit ambiguous there with my wording. By limited I mean that array_rand() limits selection to the set of available keys. Such that you will never get the same key twice.
shuffle($members); foreach($members as $member){ echo $member; }Shuffle will randomize the order of elements in an array: Shuffle()