(PHP 4, PHP 5)
mt_rand — Generate a better random value
Many random number generators of older libcs have dubious or unknown characteristics and are slow. By default, PHP uses the libc random number generator with the rand() function. The mt_rand() function is a drop-in replacement for this. It uses a random number generator with known characteristics using the » Mersenne Twister, which will produce random numbers four times faster than what the average libc rand() provides.
If called without the optional min , max arguments mt_rand() returns a pseudo-random value between 0 and mt_getrandmax(). If you want a random number between 5 and 15 (inclusive), for example, use mt_rand(5, 15).
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.
Optional lowest value to be returned (default: 0)
Optional highest value to be returned (default: mt_getrandmax())
A random integer value between min (or 0) and max (or mt_getrandmax(), inclusive)
| 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. |
Example #1 mt_rand() example
<?php
echo mt_rand() . "\n";
echo mt_rand() . "\n";
echo mt_rand(5, 15);
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
1604716014 1478613278 6