A problem with $RANDOM range in bash

Question

why the code below, supposed to display a random from 2-3 range, actually works as if the range was 2-4?

echo $((RANDOM%3+2))

Answer 1

To answer your question:

• RANDOM%3 has 3 possible values:

0, 1 and 2

+2 then:

2, 3 and 4

Answer 2

Try doing this instead if you want a reliable way :

intrandfromrange() { echo "$(( ( RANDOM % ($2 - $1 +1 ) ) + $1 ))"; }
intrandfromrange 2 4