The random number generator often omits both the upper and lower limits

I am working with an array that contains letters from A to H. However, when using a random number generator, I have noticed that the letters A and H are rarely selected. How can I adjust my approach to make sure these two bounds are included more often?

var allowedLetters = ["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H"];
var i = Math.round(Math.random() * (allowedLetters.length - 1));
var letter = allowedLetters[i];
    
console.log(letter)

Answer №1

let randomNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * (allowedLetters.length - 1));

Since the first and last elements have a range of 0.5, while all others have 1, it might be better to use:

let randomNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * allowedLetters.length);

This way, all elements will have equal distribution.

Answer №2

round function is incorrect in this scenario, as it splits the random values unevenly between lower and upper indexes.

var values = ["A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H"],
    index,
    count = {},
    i = 1e6;

while (i--) {
    index = Math.round(Math.random() * (values.length - 1));
    count[values[index]] = (count[values[index]] || 0) + 1;
}

console.log(count);

A better approach would be to use Math.floor with the full length of the array as a factor.

var values = ["A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H"],
    index,
    count = {},
    i = 1e6;

while (i--) {
    index = Math.floor(Math.random() * values.length);
    count[values[index]] = (count[values[index]] || 0) + 1;
}

console.log(count);

Answer №3

const allowedLetters = ["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H"];
let calledTimes = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0];
let i = 0;

while (i++ < 100000) {
    calledTimes[Math.round(Math.random() * (allowedLetters.length - 1))]++;
}

console.log(calledTimes);

This issue arises due to the specifics of Math.round. It is recommended to use Math.floor instead:

const allowedLetters = ["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H"];
let calledTimes = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0];
let i = 0;

while (i++ < 100000) {
    calledTimes[Math.floor(Math.random() * allowedLetters.length)]++;
}

console.log(calledTimes);

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