How to Generate a Random String in Ruby

09/24/2021

Contents

In this article, you will learn how to generate a random string in Ruby.

Generating a random string

Generating a random string in Ruby can be accomplished in many ways, here are a few methods:

Using SecureRandom

One of the simplest and most reliable ways to generate a random string in Ruby is to use the SecureRandom library. Here’s an example code:

require 'securerandom'

random_string = SecureRandom.hex(10)

This will generate a random string of 10 characters using hexadecimal encoding.

Using Array of Characters

Another way to generate a random string is by creating an array of characters, and then using the sample method to select a random element from the array:

characters = ('a'..'z').to_a + ('A'..'Z').to_a + (0..9).to_a
random_string = (0...10).map { characters.sample }.join

This will generate a random string of 10 characters using a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, as well as digits.

Using rand and ASCII Values

A third way to generate a random string is by using the rand method with ASCII values to generate a random sequence of characters:

random_string = (0...10).map { (rand(65..90)).chr }.join

This will generate a random string of 10 uppercase letters using ASCII values.

Using Base64 Encoding

Another approach to generating a random string is to use Base64 encoding. Here’s an example code:

require 'base64'

random_string = Base64.urlsafe_encode64(SecureRandom.random_bytes(10))

This will generate a random string of 10 bytes and encode it using Base64, resulting in a string of approximately 14 characters in length.

Using UUID

Finally, if you need to generate a unique identifier, you can use the uuidtools gem to generate a UUID:

require 'uuidtools'

random_string = UUIDTools::UUID.random_create.to_s

This will generate a random UUID string, which is a unique identifier that is 36 characters long.

#Ruby