Yesterday I needed a PHP password generator for the soon to be migrated FileMaker users logins. I found a list of nouns and needed a random picker. A file seemed better than in memory. AI then suggested going to a random byte, then getting the next line which is fast even with large files!

PHP

PHP as Text

function strRandomNoun() {
    // Open File
    $filePath = PATH_ROOT_XAN . 'data-nouns-2315.txt';
    $fileSize = \filesize( $filePath );
    $file = \fopen( $filePath, 'r' );

    // Loop
    do {

        // Random Noun
        $randomByte = \random_int( 0, $fileSize - 1 );
        \fseek( $file, $randomByte );
        if ( $randomByte !== 0 ) {
            \fgets( $file );
        }
        $randomLine = \fgets( $file );

        $noun = \trim( $randomLine );

    } while ( $noun === '' || $noun === false );

    // Close File
    \fclose( $file );

    return $noun;
}