CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phprandommersenne-twister
F21
F21

Reputation: 33383

Does array_rand use the Mersenne Twister algorithm?

In PHP, we have the choice of mt_rand() and rand() where mt_rand() uses the Mersenne Twister algorithm and rand() uses the libc random generator.

I would like to choose a random item out of an array using array_rand. However, does array_rand use the Mersenne Twister algorithm?

It is quite simple to implement my own array_rand using mt_rand, but if array_rand uses the Mersenne Twister, then all the better.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 672

Answers (3)

Álvaro González
Álvaro González

Reputation: 146390

It was probably not the case since results from array_rand() used to be not random at all. It's been fixed in latest releases (see Vaxquis's answer for the details).

Upvotes: 1

user719662
user719662

Reputation:

It does now, as of PHP 7.1; see this RFC and this bug report for more details.

Upvotes: 4

deceze
deceze

Reputation: 522016

It appears that array_rand uses php_rand() internally, which appears to be the good old non-mt version.

Upvotes: 0

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