php get two different random array elements

Question

From an array

 $my_array = array('a','b','c','d','e');

I want to get two DIFFERENT random elements.

With the following code:

 for ($i=0; $i<2; $i++) {
    $random = array_rand($my_array);  # one random array element number
    $get_it = $my_array[$random];    # get the letter from the array
    echo $get_it;
 }

it is possible to get two times the same letter. I need to prevent this. I want to get always two different array elements. Can somebody tell me how to do that? Thanks

Answer 1

array_rand() can take two parameters, the array and the number of (different) elements you want to pick.

mixed array_rand ( array $input [, int $num_req = 1 ] )

$my_array = array('a','b','c','d','e');
foreach( array_rand($my_array, 2) as $key ) {
  echo $my_array[$key];
}

Answer 2

What about this?

$random = $my_array; // make a copy of the array
shuffle($random); // randomize the order
echo array_pop($random); // take the last element and remove it
echo array_pop($random); // s.a.