I'm new to Ruby. I just want to know if there is a way to create random numbers in the following fashion:
1) Generate 45 random numbers.
2) Random number generated can be repeated only up to 5 times
I tried using the following approach.
45.times do |x|
puts x.rand(1..9)
end
How can I achieve max occurrence of a number be 5?
I would do something like this:
Array.new(5) { (1..9).to_a }.flatten.shuffle
This generates an array in which all number form 1 to 9 exist exactly 5 times and shuffles that array randomly.
Depending on your needs you might use this array as it is or pop the next random number from it:
numbers = Array.new(5) { (1..9).to_a }.flatten.shuffle
3.times do
puts numbers.pop
end
Using pop returns a number and removes it from the array. That means after 45 circles the numbers array will be empty.
Array#* to avoid flatten. i.e.: ((1..9).to_a * 5).shuffle3.times should probably be 45.times. Wouldn't it be cleaner to just remove elements until the array is empty instead of having the magic number 45 in there? Something like while (n = numbers.pop); puts n; end. Also note that pop removes the last element which might be counterintuitive.
3.times part only as an example how to use pop that is easily pasteable into the console. I guess the OP doesn't just want to write a program that prints the values to the console. Therefore IMO it depends on the usage of this randomly order array, how he might want to consume its content. But using while is certainly better than a magic number. You are right.