PHP String Exercises : Generate simple random password from a specified string

PHP String: Exercise-9 with Solution

Write a PHP script to generate simple random password [do not use rand() function] from a given string.

Sample string: '1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
Note : Password length may be 6, 7, 8 etc.

Sample Solution:

PHP Code:

<?php
// Define a function named password_generate that takes the number of characters as input
function password_generate($chars) 
{
  // Define a string containing all possible characters for the password
  $data = '1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';
  // Shuffle the characters in the string and extract a substring of length $chars
  return substr(str_shuffle($data), 0, $chars);
}
// Call the password_generate function with 7 characters and echo the generated password
echo password_generate(7)."\n";
?>

Output:

89Qp3AK

Explanation:

In the exercise above,

• <?php: This tag indicates the beginning of a PHP script.
• Function password_generate($chars): This line defines a PHP function named "password_generate()" that takes one parameter '$chars', which represents the number of characters in the password to be generated.
• {: Opening curly brace indicates the beginning of the function body.
• $data = '1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';: This line creates a string named '$data' containing a pool of characters from which the password will be generated. It includes digits (0-9), uppercase letters (A-Z), and lowercase letters (a-z).
• return substr(str_shuffle($data), 0, $chars);: This line generates a random password by performing the following steps:
• str_shuffle($data): Randomly shuffles the characters in the '$data' string.
• substr(...): Takes a substring of the shuffled characters, starting from index 0 and having a length of '$chars'. This ensures that the generated password has the specified number of characters.
• return ...;: Returns the generated password from the function.
• }: Closing curly brace indicates the end of the function body.
• echo password_generate(7)."\n";: This line calls the "password_generate()" function with an argument of 7, indicating that a password with 7 characters should be generated. It then echoes the generated password followed by a newline character.
• ?>: This tag indicates the end of the PHP script.

Flowchart :

PHP Code Editor:

Have another way to solve this solution? Contribute your code (and comments) through Disqus.

Previous: Write a PHP script to format values in currency style.
Next: Write a PHP script to replace the first 'the' of the following string with 'That'.