SQL Server RAND() Function

In SQL Server, the RAND() function is used to generate a random number. The function returns a random floating-point number between 0 and 1.

Syntax

RAND()

Usage

The RAND() function can be used in various scenarios, such as generating test data, random sorting, and more.

Examples

Here are two examples of using the RAND() function:

Example 1

Assume there is a student table containing the following data:

name	age	gender
John	20	M
Mary	21	F
Tom	19	M
Lily	20	F

Now, we want to randomly select one student’s information. We can use the following SQL statement:

SELECT TOP 1 * FROM student ORDER BY `RAND()`;

Running this statement may result in the following:

name	age	gender
Tom	19	M

Example 2

Assume we want to generate an array containing 5 random numbers. We can use the following SQL statement:

SELECT `RAND()`, `RAND()`, `RAND()`, `RAND()`, `RAND()`;