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How do I retrieve a random element from an array in PHP?

Mary-Kate Olsen
Mary-Kate OlsenOriginal
2024-11-27 16:32:10653browse

How do I retrieve a random element from an array in PHP?

Retrieve a Random Array Element

When dealing with arrays in PHP, it may be necessary to select a random item from the array. Consider the array $items:

$items = [523, 3452, 334, 31, ... 5346];

Solution: Utilize array_rand()

To retrieve a random element from $items, use the array_rand() function:

echo $items[array_rand($items)];

Explanation of array_rand()

array_rand() takes an array as input and returns a random index from that array. Combining this result with array index access using brackets, we can retrieve the corresponding random element from $items.

Additional Notes:

  • array_rand() supports specifying the number of random indexes to return. For instance, array_rand($items, 3) would return three random indexes.
  • If the input array is empty, array_rand() will return false.

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