What are the best practices for incorporating array_rand() within a while() loop in PHP?

When using array_rand() within a while() loop in PHP, it is important to ensure that the array_rand() function is called only once outside the loop to avoid repeating the random selection in each iteration. This can be achieved by storing the random element in a variable before entering the loop. By doing so, the random element will remain constant throughout the loop iterations. 

<?php

// Array of values
$values = array('A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E');

// Get a random key from the array
$randomKey = array_rand($values);

// While loop to iterate over the array
$count = 0;
while ($count < count($values)) {
    // Access the element using the random key
    echo $values[$randomKey] . "\n";
    
    // Increment count
    $count++;
}

?>

Keywords

array_rand while loop PHP randomization best practices

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