Random strings are used everywhere in computing -- mostly as keys for cryptographic signing sensitive data. So how does one go about creating one?
My first thinking was to use Python code and its random library. I came up with this
import string
import random
def gen_random_string(length=32, charset=string.printable):
'''
A function to generate a string of specified length composed of random
characters. The characters with which the string is composed can be
customized thru the second parameter.
Parameters:
length - int, length of the string. Defaults to 32.
charset - array of characters from which the letters to compose
the string are randomly chosen. Defaults to string.printable
Returns:
string
Raises:
None
'''
num_chars = len(charset)
random_string = ''
random.seed()
for i in range(0, length):
random_string += charset[random.randint(0, num_chars-1)]
return random_string
It does produce a random string of the required length.
However, I found out a better way:
$ openssl rand -base64 48
This generates a random string of length 48 characters.
Not only is the latter more succinct (though it requires OpenSSL to be installed), I would think the generated string it's more random than one based in python random library.