How to Get a Random Number in Python (The Random Module)

To get a random number in Python, use the randint() function from the random module.

For example, let’s generate a random integer between 1 and 100:

import random

random_number = random.randint(1,100)
print(random_number)

Output:

To generate a random float, use the uniform function from the random module:

import random

random_float = random.uniform(0,100)
print(random_float)

Output:

87.95647839475612

These are the two basic use cases you are going to need.

Let’s go through some of the most common questions related to generating random numbers in Python.

How to Generate a Random Float Between 0 and 1

To generate a random float between 0 and 1, use the uniform() function from the random library.

For example:

import random

random.uniform(0, 1)

To generate a random number that is either 0 or 1, use the randint() function from the random library.

For example:

import random

random.randint(0, 1)

To randomly choose a number from a list of numbers, use the choice() function from the random module.

For example:

import random

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
random_selection = random.choice(numbers)

print(random_selection)

Output:

To generate a random number between 1 and 100, use the uniform() function from the random library like this:

import random

random_number = random.randint(1, 100)
print(random_number)

Output example:

To generate a random number from the Gaussian distribution, use the random library’s gauss() function.

For example, let’s generate a random number from a normal distribution with the mean of 5 and standard deviation of 10:

import random
  
# The mean of the distribution
mu = 10

# The standard deviation of the distribution
sigma = 5

print(random.gauss(mu, sigma))

Output example:

11.2619492713289371

To simulate a coin toss in Python, you need to randomly select between heads and tails.

To do this, create a list that has both heads and tails in it. Then choose one of them randomly using the random.choice() function.

Here is how it looks in the code:

import random

def coinToss():
    return random.choice(['Tails', 'Heads'])

print(coinToss())

Output example:

Tails

Thanks for reading. Happy coding!