How Can I Retrieve a Random Row from an SQLite Table?

Using ORDER BY RANDOM() to Randomize Results in SQLite

In database management, it is often useful to retrieve data in a random order. While MySQL provides the RAND() function for this purpose, SQLite 3 lacks a direct equivalent. However, there is an alternative approach to achieve the same result.

Alternative to RAND() in SQLite 3

To randomize the order of results in SQLite 3, you can use the RANDOM() function in conjunction with the ORDER BY clause. Here's the syntax:

SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 1;

Explanation

• The RANDOM() function generates a random number for each row in the table.
• The ORDER BY clause sorts the results by the generated random number.
• The LIMIT 1 clause limits the results to a single row.

By combining these elements, SQLite 3 effectively randomizes the order of the results from the specified table.

Example

Consider the following SQLite 3 table:

CREATE TABLE people (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT);
INSERT INTO people (name) VALUES ('John'), ('Mary'), ('Bob');

To retrieve a random row from this table, you could use the following query:

SELECT * FROM people ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 1;

Each time you execute this query, it will return a different person from the table in a random order.

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