random.triangular() method in Python

triangular() is an inbuilt method of the random module. It is used to return a random floating point number within a range with a bias towards one extreme.

Syntax : random.triangular(low, high, mode)

Parameters :
low : the lower limit of the random number
high : the upper limit of the random number
mode : additional bias; low < mode < high

if the parameters are (10, 100, 20) then due to the bias, most of the random numbers generated will be closer to 10 as opposed to 100.

Returns : a random floating number

Example 1:

# import the random module
import random

# determining the values of the parameters
low = 10
high = 100
mode = 20

# using the triangular() method
print(random.triangular(low, high, mode))

Output :

22.614510550239572

Example 2: If we generate the number multiple times we can probably identify the bias.

# import the random module
import random

# determining the values of the parameters
low = 10
high = 100
mode = 20

# running the triangular method with the
# same parameters multiple times
for i in range(10):
    print(random.triangular(low, high, mode))

Output :

58.645768016894735
46.690692250503226
33.57590419190895
52.331804090351305
33.09451214875767
12.03845752596168
32.816080679206294
20.4739124559502
82.49208123077557
63.511062284733015

Example 3: We can visualize the triangular pattern by plotting a graph.

# import the required libraries
import random
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt


# store the random numbers in a list
nums = []
low = 10
high = 100
mode = 20

for i in range(10000):
    temp = random.triangular(low, high, mode)
    nums.append(temp)

# plotting a graph
plt.hist(nums, bins = 200)
plt.show()

Output :