p5art

Random Numbers

P5 can create random numbers using the random function. It can be used with different parameters but will always return a number in decimal form.

If you want a random number between 0 and 1, use random() with no parameters. This will return a random number like this 0.303114058432957.

If you want a random number between 0 and some other number, you can add one parameter. random(10) will return a number between 0 and 10, for example 7.704012912274932.

If you want a random number between some range, you can add two parameters. random(20, 40) will return a random number between 20 and 40, for example 25.76083288444286.

You will notice that random always returns a decimal. If you just want whole numbers you can use floor.

This code will give a whole number between 0 and 10. It could give back 0 but will never give 10.

let num = floor(random(10));
print(num);

You can use random wherever you could use a number. This code will put a random circle on the canvas for each loop of draw.

//background(220); //stop the background so the circles appear
ellipse(random(width), random(height), 20, 20);

This code will randomly size the circle between 50 and 350.

ellipse(width/2, height/2, random(50, 350);

Random Color

Use this code to make a random color.

let r = random(255);
let g = random(255);
let b = random(255);
fill(r, g, b);