Is there a possibility to write a random letter generator as short as in python?

Question

So I want to shorten my code and I asked myself if there is any possibility that a Random Letter generator in Java is as short as in python. In python it's just one a one liner.

The following Code is my Code yet:

int random = (int) Math.random()*25;

String[] letters ={"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"}; 

String letter = letters[random];

How short can Python do it, and what metric of "short" do you want? Characters? Steps? Something else? — Andreas, Jun 08 '19 at 21:34
If you ask for a comparison, it would be nice to know what we're comparing to, i.e. how "short" can Python do it? — Andreas, Jun 08 '19 at 21:36

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 08 '19 at 21:43

If "short" just means one line, then any of these would do:

char letter = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".charAt((int) (Math.random() * 26));

char letter = (char) ThreadLocalRandom.current().nextInt('a', 'z'+1);

char letter = (char) ('a' + Math.random() * 26);

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '19 at 21:47

1

Use the ASCII table. 97 = 'a', so just add your random number to that and convert to char.

ASCII Table

public class MyClass {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        char z = (char)(97 + Math.random()*26);
        System.out.println("z = " + z);
    }
}

answered Jun 08 '19 at 21:47

Greg Graham

473
7
18

1

Use `'a'`, not 97, to make the code a bit more self-documenting. – Andreas Jun 08 '19 at 22:06

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 08 '19 at 21:56

0

This is the shortest version to create 100 Characters:

Character[] result = new Random().ints(100,'a','z'+1).mapToObj(ch -> (char)ch).toArray(Character[]::new);

answered Jun 08 '19 at 21:56

Finomnis

18,094
1
20
27

Is there a possibility to write a random letter generator as short as in python?

3 Answers3