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This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq4.pod, which
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4.11: How do I get a random number between X and Y?

To get a random number between two values, you can use the "rand()"
built-in to get a random number between 0 and 1. From there, you shift
that into the range that you want.

"rand($x)" returns a number such that "0 <= rand($x) < $x". Thus what
you want to have perl figure out is a random number in the range from 0
to the difference between your *X* and *Y*.

That is, to get a number between 10 and 15, inclusive, you want a random
number between 0 and 5 that you can then add to 10.

my $number = 10 + int rand( 15-10+1 ); # ( 10,11,12,13,14, or 15 )

Hence you derive the following simple function to abstract that. It
selects a random integer between the two given integers (inclusive), For
example: "random_int_between(50,120)".

sub random_int_between {
my($min, $max) = @_;
# Assumes that the two arguments are integers themselves!
return $min if $min == $max;
($min, $max) = ($max, $min) if $min > $max;
return $min + int rand(1 + $max - $min);
}



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