Question

I’m trying to create a random number generator that generates random numbers between two numbers. For instance, let’s say I want to generate a random number between 4 and 10, I would want it to be able to choose from any number from 4 – 10. Here is what I tried:

var randNumMin = 4;
var randNumMax = 10;
var randInt = (Math.floor(Math.random() * (randNumMax - randNumMin + 1)) + randNumMin);

However, that didn’t seem to work and generated weird random numbers that weren’t between 4 and 10, and some began with 0. What would be the correct algorithm to do this?

Here is the code I’m implementing the algorithm in:

$(function() {
    $('#generateRandNums').click(function() {

        var numCount = document.getElementById("randNumCount").value;
        var randNumMin = document.getElementById("randNumMin").value;
        var randNumMax = document.getElementById("randNumMax").value;

        if (numCount.match(/^[\d]*$/ ) && randNumMin.match(/^[\d]*$/ ) && randNumMax.match(/^[\d]*$/ )) {       
            if (numCount == "" || randNumMin == "" || randNumMax == "")  {
                alert ("Please fill out all forms then try again.");

            } else {
                if (randNumMin>randNumMax) {
                    alert ("Please make sure your first number is smaller than the second, then try again.");
                } else {
                    if (randNumMin<0) {
                        alert ("Please make sure that you generate a positive number of random numbers, then try again.");
                    } else {

                        if (numCount>1) {
                            var randResult = ("You generated " + numCount + " random numbers between " + randNumMin + " and " + randNumMax + " and got the numbers ")
                            oneNumber = 0;
                        } else {
                            var randResult = ("You generated a random number between " + randNumMin + " and " + randNumMax + " and got the number ");
                            oneNumber = 1;
                        }
                        for (i=0;i<numCount;i++) {
                        //Get a random number between randNumMin and randNumMax
                        var randInt = (Math.floor(Math.random() * (randNumMax - randNumMin + 1)) + randNumMin);
                            if (i == numCount-1) {
                                if (oneNumber == 0) {
                                    randResult = (randResult + "and " + randInt + ".");
                                } else {
                                    randResult = (randResult + randInt + ".");
                                }
                            } else {
                                randResult = (randResult + randInt + ", ");
                            }
                        }
                        $("#randNumResults").val(randResult);
                    }
                }
            }
        } else {
            alert ("Make sure you only enter numbers and no spaces, then try again.");
        }

    });
});

I also tried replacing the randInt line with this:

var randInt = Math.floor((Math.random() * ((randNumMax + 1) - randNumMin)) + randNumMin);

It still didn’t work.
I’m not sure if the algorithm is wrong or I’m incorporating it wrong into the function. An answer is appreciated, thanks.

Answer 1

Your problem is you never converted your string to numbers try adding this

if (  numCount.match(/^[\d]*$/ ) && 
    randNumMin.match(/^[\d]*$/ ) && 
    randNumMax.match(/^[\d]*$/ )){
  if (numCount === "" || randNumMin === "" || randNumMax === "")  {
    alert ("Please fill out all forms then try again.");
  } else {
    numCount=numCount-0;randNumMin=randNumMin-0;randNumMax=randNumMax-0;

Another note you need to change your checking if the value is an empty string to strict equality. To see what I mean try using zero for one of the values. 0 == ""//returns true because both are falsy 0 === ""//returns false.