How to generate random strings in Python?

user_135301 0
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How do you create a random string in Python?

I need it to be number then character, repeating until the iteration is done.

This is what I created:

def random_id(length):
    number = '0123456789'
    alpha = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
    id = ''
    for i in range(0,length,2):
        id += random.choice(number)
        id += random.choice(alpha)
    return id
random python string
12 Answers

Generating strings from (for example) lowercase characters:

import random, string

def randomword(length):
   letters = string.ascii_lowercase
   return ''.join(random.choice(letters) for i in range(length))

Results:

>>> randomword(10)
'vxnxikmhdc'
>>> randomword(10)
'ytqhdohksy'
sth_563380

Since this question is fairly, uh, random, this may work for you: 

>>> import uuid
>>> print uuid.uuid4()
58fe9784-f60a-42bc-aa94-eb8f1a7e5c17
Brandon_Corfman_289160 
>>> import random
>>> import string
>>> s=string.lowercase+string.digits
>>> ''.join(random.sample(s,10))
'jw72qidagk
user_1315270

You can build random ascii characters like:

import random
print chr(random.randint(0,255))

And then build up a longer string like:

len = 50
print ''.join( [chr(random.randint(0,255)) for i in xrange(0,len)] )
funkyworklehead_207120

You haven't really said much about what sort of random string you need. But in any case, you should look into the random module.

A very simple solution is pasted below.

import random

def randstring(length=10):
    valid_letters='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'
    return ''.join((random.choice(valid_letters) for i in xrange(length)))

print randstring()
print randstring(20)
user_1253820

Sometimes, I've wanted random strings that are semi-pronounceable, semi-memorable.

import random

def randomWord(length=5):
    consonants = "bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz"
    vowels = "aeiou"

    return "".join(random.choice((consonants, vowels)[i%2]) for i in range(length))

Then,

>>> randomWord()
nibit
>>> randomWord()
piber
>>> randomWord(10)
rubirikiro

To avoid 4-letter words, don't set length to 4.

Jim

user_33500500

In python3.6+ you can use the secrets module:

The secrets module is used for generating cryptographically strong random numbers suitable for managing data such as passwords, account authentication, security tokens, and related secrets.

In particularly, secrets should be used in preference to the default pseudo-random number generator in the random module, which is designed for modelling and simulation, not security or cryptography.

In testing generation of 768bit security tokens I found:

  • random.choices() - 0.000246 secs
  • secrets.choice() - 0.003529 secs

The secrets modules is slower but outside of testing it is what you should be using for cryptographic purposes:

import string, secrets

def random_string(size):        
        letters = string.ascii_lowercase+string.ascii_uppercase+string.digits            
        return ''.join(secrets.choice(letters) for i in range(size))

print(random_string(768))
user_5554510 
import random 
import string

def get_random_string(size):
    chars = string.ascii_lowercase+string.ascii_uppercase+string.digits
    ''.join(random.choice(chars) for _ in range(size))

print(get_random_string(20)

output : FfxjmkyyLG5HvLeRudDS

user_56754350
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