Perl in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

rand

Synopsis

rand num
                  

Returns a random fractional number between 0 and the value of num. (numshould be positive.) If num is omitted, the function returns a value between 0 and 1 (including 0, but excluding 1). See also srand .

To get an integral value, combine this with int, as in:

$roll = int(rand 6) + 1;       # $roll is now an integer between 1 and 6