I'm trying to generate a random number between two given values. I'm
able to produce this with a pretty standard little function, however when I try to set
the maximum and minimum values through an input field, I get some unexpected
results.
This is using jQuery, which isn't
necessary for this particular function but is needed for the larger
project.
Here's an example of what I'm
finding:
href="https://jsfiddle.net/u2k41hzd/" rel="nofollow
noreferrer">https://jsfiddle.net/u2k41hzd/
function
randomNumber(min, max) {
points = Math.floor(Math.random() * (max
- min + 1) + min);
}
$( "button" ).on( "click", function
( event ) {
minPoints = $( ".min-points" ).val();
maxPoints = $(
".max-points" ).val();
randomNumber(minPoints, maxPoints);
$(".random").html(points);
});
In
the case of the minimum number being 1 and the maximum being 6, I would expect to get
numbers between 1 and 6. However, I get numbers between 0 and 5.
If the minimum number is 2 and the maximum 6, I
would expect to get numbers between 2 and 6, but get numbers between 0 and 4. Passing in
3 and 6 gives numbers between 0 and 3, and so
on.
Ignoring the input values and hard coding
them instead seems produce expected results with no issue. Essentially I'm just unsure
as to why the input values are behaving as they are. I'm sure I've just misunderstood
something or made a mistake somewhere, but I've not been able to determine the
reason!
Answer
The issue is that you need to add the
min
to the rounded number, not to the randomly generated
number:
function randomNumber(min,
max) {
points = Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) +
min;
}
To
explain further, for the case of 2 and
9:
- Math.random() generates
a number between 0 and 0.999999999... - max - min + 1 =
8 - So the generated number will be in the range 8 * 0 and
8 * 0.99999999... - Flooring it will round down
in the range [0, 7] - The result would need to be offset by
the starting number (i.e. the minimum allowed number -
2)
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