How do I populate an array with random numbers?

Question

I am trying to populate an array of four elements with positive integers that are less than 9.

Here is my code:

generated_number=Array.new(4)#create empty array of size 4
generated_number.each do |random| #for each position in the array create a random number
  random=rand(10)
end
puts generated_number

I don't understand what I'm missing.

Answer 1

You can pass a range to rand()

Array.new(4) { rand(1...9) }

Answer 2

I think you're over complicating things.

 generated_numbers = 4.times.map{Random.rand(8) } #=> [4, 2, 6, 8]

edit: For giggles I put together this function:

def rand_array(x, max)
  x.times.map{ Random.rand(max) }
end

puts rand_array(5, 20) #=> [4, 13, 9, 19, 13]