Generating random numbers with Swift
SwiftArc4randomSwift Problem Overview
I need to generate a random number.
It appears the arc4random
function no longer exists as well as the arc4random_uniform
function.
The options I have are arc4random_stir()
, arc4random_buf(UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>, Int)
, and arc4random_addrandom(UnsafeMutablePointer<UInt8>, Int32)
.
I can't find any docs on the functions and no comments in the header files give hints.
Swift Solutions
Solution 1 - Swift
let randomIntFrom0To10 = Int.random(in: 1..<10)
let randomFloat = Float.random(in: 0..<1)
// if you want to get a random element in an array
let greetings = ["hey", "hi", "hello", "hola"]
greetings.randomElement()
Solution 2 - Swift
You could try as well:
let diceRoll = Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(6)))
I had to add "UInt32" to make it work.
Solution 3 - Swift
Just call this function and provide minimum and maximum range of number and you will get a random number.
eg.like randomNumber(MIN: 0, MAX: 10) and You will get number between 0 to 9.
func randomNumber(MIN: Int, MAX: Int)-> Int{
return Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(MAX-MIN)) + UInt32(MIN));
}
Note:- You will always get output an Integer number.
Solution 4 - Swift
After some investigation I wrote this:
import Foundation
struct Math {
private static var seeded = false
static func randomFractional() -> CGFloat {
if !Math.seeded {
let time = Int(NSDate().timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate)
srand48(time)
Math.seeded = true
}
return CGFloat(drand48())
}
}
Now you can just do Math.randomFraction()
to get random numbers [0..1[ without having to remember seeding first. Hope this helps someone :o)
Solution 5 - Swift
Update with swift 4.2 :
let randomInt = Int.random(in: 1..<5)
let randomFloat = Float.random(in: 1..<10)
let randomDouble = Double.random(in: 1...100)
let randomCGFloat = CGFloat.random(in: 1...1000)
Solution 6 - Swift
Another option is to use the xorshift128plus algorithm:
func xorshift128plus(seed0 : UInt64, _ seed1 : UInt64) -> () -> UInt64 {
var state0 : UInt64 = seed0
var state1 : UInt64 = seed1
if state0 == 0 && state1 == 0 {
state0 = 1 // both state variables cannot be 0
}
func rand() -> UInt64 {
var s1 : UInt64 = state0
let s0 : UInt64 = state1
state0 = s0
s1 ^= s1 << 23
s1 ^= s1 >> 17
s1 ^= s0
s1 ^= s0 >> 26
state1 = s1
return UInt64.addWithOverflow(state0, state1).0
}
return rand
}
This algorithm has a period of 2^128 - 1 and passes all the tests of the BigCrush test suite. Note that while this is a high-quality pseudo-random number generator with a long period, it is not a cryptographically secure random number generator.
You could seed it from the current time or any other random source of entropy. For example, if you had a function called urand64()
that read a UInt64
from /dev/urandom
, you could use it like this:
let rand = xorshift128plus(urand64(), urand64())
for _ in 1...10 {
print(rand())
}
Solution 7 - Swift
let MAX : UInt32 = 9
let MIN : UInt32 = 1
func randomNumber()
{
var random_number = Int(arc4random_uniform(MAX) + MIN)
print ("random = ", random_number);
}
Solution 8 - Swift
In Swift 3 :
It will generate random number between 0 to limit
let limit : UInt32 = 6
print("Random Number : \(arc4random_uniform(limit))")
Solution 9 - Swift
My implementation as an Int extension. Will generate random numbers in range from..<to
public extension Int {
static func random(from: Int, to: Int) -> Int {
guard to > from else {
assertionFailure("Can not generate negative random numbers")
return 0
}
return Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(to - from)) + UInt32(from))
}
}
Solution 10 - Swift
This is how I get a random number between 2 int's!
func randomNumber(MIN: Int, MAX: Int)-> Int{
var list : [Int] = []
for i in MIN...MAX {
list.append(i)
}
return list[Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(list.count)))]
}
usage:
print("My Random Number is: \(randomNumber(MIN:-10,MAX:10))")
Solution 11 - Swift
Another option is to use GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource from GameKit. The docs say:
> A deterministic pseudo-random source that generates random numbers > based on a mersenne twister algorithm. This is a deterministic random > source suitable for creating reliable gameplay mechanics. It is > slightly slower than an Arc4 source, but more random, in that it has a > longer period until repeating sequences. While deterministic, this is > not a cryptographic random source. It is however suitable for > obfuscation of gameplay data.
import GameKit
let minValue = 0
let maxValue = 100
var randomDistribution: GKRandomDistribution?
let randomSource = GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource()
randomDistribution = GKRandomDistribution(randomSource: randomSource, lowestValue: minValue, highestValue: maxValue)
let number = randomDistribution?.nextInt() ?? 0
print(number)
Example taken from Apple's sample code: https://github.com/carekit-apple/CareKit/blob/master/CareKitPrototypingTool/OCKPrototyper/CareKitPatient/RandomNumberGeneratorHelper.swift
Solution 12 - Swift
I'm late to the party 朗
Using a function that allows you to change the size of the array and the range selection on the fly is the most versatile method. You can also use map so it's very concise. I use it in all of my performance testing/bench marking.
elements
is the number of items in the array
only including numbers from 0...max
func randArr(_ elements: Int, _ max: Int) -> [Int] {
return (0..<elements).map{ _ in Int.random(in: 0...max) }
}
Code Sense / Placeholders look like this.
randArr(elements: Int, max: Int)
10 elements in my array ranging from 0 to 1000.
randArr(10, 1000) // [554, 8, 54, 87, 10, 33, 349, 888, 2, 77]
Solution 13 - Swift
you can use this in specific rate:
let die = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
let firstRoll = die[Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(die.count)))]
let secondRoll = die[Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(die.count)))]
Solution 14 - Swift
Lets Code with Swift for the random number or random string :)
let quotes: NSArray = ["R", "A", "N", "D", "O", "M"]
let randomNumber = arc4random_uniform(UInt32(quotes.count))
let quoteString = quotes[Int(randomNumber)]
print(quoteString)
it will give you output randomly.
Solution 15 - Swift
Don't forget that some numbers will repeat! so you need to do something like....
my totalQuestions was 47.
func getRandomNumbers(totalQuestions:Int) -> NSMutableArray
{
var arrayOfRandomQuestions: [Int] = []
print("arraySizeRequired = 40")
print("totalQuestions = \(totalQuestions)")
//This will output a 40 random numbers between 0 and totalQuestions (47)
while arrayOfRandomQuestions.count < 40
{
let limit: UInt32 = UInt32(totalQuestions)
let theRandomNumber = (Int(arc4random_uniform(limit)))
if arrayOfRandomQuestions.contains(theRandomNumber)
{
print("ping")
}
else
{
//item not found
arrayOfRandomQuestions.append(theRandomNumber)
}
}
print("Random Number set = \(arrayOfRandomQuestions)")
print("arrayOutputCount = \(arrayOfRandomQuestions.count)")
return arrayOfRandomQuestions as! NSMutableArray
}
Solution 16 - Swift
look, i had the same problem but i insert the function as a global variable
as
var RNumber = Int(arc4random_uniform(9)+1)
func GetCase(){
your code
}
obviously this is not efficent, so then i just copy and paste the code into the function so it could be reusable, then xcode suggest me to set the var as constant so my code were
func GetCase() {
let RNumber = Int(arc4random_uniform(9)+1)
if categoria == 1 {
}
}
well thats a part of my code so xcode tell me something of inmutable and initialization but, it build the app anyway and that advice simply dissapear
hope it helps