Generating random results by weight in PHP?

Question

I know how to generate a random number in PHP but lets say I want a random number between 1-10 but I want more 3,4,5\'s then 8,9,10\'s. How is this possible? I would post wh

Answer 1

function getBucketFromWeights($values) { $total = $currentTotal = $bucket = 0;

foreach ($values as $amount) {
    $total += $amount;
}

$rand = mt_rand(0, $total-1);

foreach ($values as $amount) {
    $currentTotal += $amount;

    if ($rand => $currentTotal) {
        $bucket++;
    }
    else {
        break;
    }
}

return $bucket;

}

I ugh modified this from an answer here Picking random element by user defined weights

After I wrote this I saw someone else had an even more elegant answer. He he he he.