How can I generate random alphanumeric strings?

Question

How can I generate a random 8 character alphanumeric string in C#?

Answer 1

The code written by Eric J. is quite sloppy (it is quite clear that it is from 6 years ago... he probably wouldn't write that code today), and there are even some problems.

Unlike some of the alternatives presented, this one is cryptographically sound.

Untrue... There is a bias in the password (as written in a comment), bcdefgh are a little more probable than the others (the a isn't because by the GetNonZeroBytes it isn't generating bytes with a value of zero, so the bias for the a is balanced by it), so it isn't really cryptographically sound.

This should correct all the problems.

public static string GetUniqueKey(int size = 6, string chars = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890")
{
    using (var crypto = new RNGCryptoServiceProvider())
    {
        var data = new byte[size];

        // If chars.Length isn't a power of 2 then there is a bias if
        // we simply use the modulus operator. The first characters of
        // chars will be more probable than the last ones.

        // buffer used if we encounter an unusable random byte. We will
        // regenerate it in this buffer
        byte[] smallBuffer = null;

        // Maximum random number that can be used without introducing a
        // bias
        int maxRandom = byte.MaxValue - ((byte.MaxValue + 1) % chars.Length);

        crypto.GetBytes(data);

        var result = new char[size];

        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
        {
            byte v = data[i];

            while (v > maxRandom)
            {
                if (smallBuffer == null)
                {
                    smallBuffer = new byte[1];
                }

                crypto.GetBytes(smallBuffer);
                v = smallBuffer[0];
            }

            result[i] = chars[v % chars.Length];
        }

        return new string(result);
    }
}