MySQL | RAND method
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MySQL's RAND(~) method returns a random float value between 0 (inclusive) and 1 (exclusive).
Parameters
1. N | int | optional
The seed value to use. By default None.
If a particular seed value is specified, the same random number will be generated every time that particular seed value is used. Hence if you run SELECT RAND(3); you will always get 0.9057697559760601
Return value
A random float value between 0 (inclusive) and 1 (exclusive).
Examples
Basic usage
To return a random float value between 0 and 1 (exclusive):
SELECT RAND();
+--------------------+| RAND() |+--------------------+| 0.9960292372815583 |+--------------------+
To return a random float value between 0 and 10 (exclusive):
SELECT RAND() * 10;
+-------------------+| RAND() * 10 |+-------------------+| 9.803185351009652 |+-------------------+
Use with FLOOR(~)
To return a random integer between 6 and 12 (exclusive):
SELECT FLOOR(6 + (RAND() * 6));
+-------------------------+| FLOOR(6 + (RAND() * 6)) |+-------------------------+| 11 |+-------------------------+
Note that by using the FLOOR method we are able to return an integer rather than a floating point value.
Seed parameter
To specify a seed value of 5:
SELECT RAND(5), RAND(5);
+---------------------+---------------------+| RAND(5) | RAND(5) |+---------------------+---------------------+| 0.40613597483014313 | 0.40613597483014313 |+---------------------+---------------------+
We can see that the same return value is obtained for both columns due to the use of seed value 5.
