從 Mysql 表中隨機讀取數據不難，方法還挺多的，但是如果要考慮效率，得到一個快速的高效率的方法，那就不是一件簡單的事情了（至少對我來說不簡單）。
語句簡單，速度慢的方法
SELECT * FROM table_name ORDER BY rand() LIMIT 5;
語句復雜，速度快的方法
SELECT * FROM table_name AS r1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * (SELECT MAX(id) FROM table_name)) AS id) AS r2 WHERE r1.id >= r2.id ORDER BY r1.id ASC LIMIT 5;
cjc注: ... AS id) AS t2 這里的 id, 也許該換成id2, 后面 WHERE t1.id >= t2.id 改成 WHERE t1.id >= t2.id2
摘自: http://www.dayanmei.com/blog.php/ID_203.htm
******************************************************************************************
Discuz中，隨機讀取論壇的幾個連續主題:
PHP里調用:
$s = "SELECT tid, fid, subject FROM {$tablepre}threads AS r1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND()*(SELECT MAX(tid) FROM {$tablepre}threads)) AS id) AS r2 WHERE (fid=13) and (r1.tid >= r2.id) ORDER BY r1.tid LIMIT 6";
$query = $db->query($s);
phpMyAdmin 中測試語句:
SELECT tid, fid, subject FROM cdb_threads AS r1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND()*(SELECT MAX(tid) FROM cdb_threads)) AS id) AS r2 WHERE (fid=13) and (r1.tid >= r2.id) ORDER BY r1.tid LIMIT 6
注意: 不可刪除 order by r1.tid, 否則總會固定出現最初的2行數據
******************************************************************************************
另一文章里使用了MIN()的版本:
通用語句:
SELECT *
FROM `table` AS t1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * ((SELECT MAX(id) FROM `table`)-(SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`))+(SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`)) AS id) AS t2
WHERE t1.id >= t2.id
ORDER BY t1.id LIMIT 1;
cjc注: ... AS id) AS t2 這里的 id, 也許該換成id2, 后面 WHERE t1.id >= t2.id 改成 WHERE t1.id >= t2.id2
Discuz 語句:
SELECT tid, fid,subject
FROM `cdb_threads` AS t1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * ((SELECT MAX(tid) FROM `cdb_threads`)-(SELECT MIN(tid) FROM `cdb_threads`))+(SELECT MIN(tid) FROM `cdb_threads`)) AS id) AS t2
WHERE t1.tid >= t2.id and fid=13 ORDER BY t1.tid LIMIT 5;
or
$s = "SELECT * FROM {$tablepre}threads AS t1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * ((SELECT MAX(tid) FROM {$tablepre}threads)-(SELECT MIN(tid) FROM {$tablepre}threads))+(SELECT MIN(tid) FROM {$tablepre}threads)) AS id) AS t2 WHERE (t1.tid >= t2.id) and (fid=13) ORDER BY t1.tid LIMIT 6";
$query = $db->query($s);
cjc注: MIN(tid) 得到的通常是1, 所以加上MIN()的計算，不一定有必要.
*************************** 全文轉貼如下 ******************************************************
原文網址: http://jnote.cn/blog/mysql/mysql-rand-efficiency.html
mysql使用rand隨機查詢記錄效率測試 - 八月 8, 2007 | Posted by 老蔣
一直以為mysql隨機查詢幾條數據，就用
SELECT * FROM `table` ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 5
就可以了。
但是真正測試一下才發現這樣效率非常低。一個15萬余條的庫，查詢5條數據，居然要8秒以上
查看官方手冊，也說rand()放在ORDER BY 子句中會被執行多次，自然效率及很低。
You cannot use a column with RAND() values in an ORDER BY clause, because ORDER BY would evaluate the column multiple times.
搜索Google，網上基本上都是查詢max(id) * rand()來隨機獲取數據。
SELECT *
FROM `table` AS t1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * (SELECT MAX(id) FROM `table`)) AS id) AS t2
WHERE t1.id >= t2.id
ORDER BY t1.id ASC LIMIT 5;
但是這樣會產生連續的5條記錄。解決辦法只能是每次查詢一條，查詢5次。即便如此也值得，因為15萬條的表，查詢只需要0.01秒不到。
上面的語句采用的是JOIN，mysql的論壇上有人使用
SELECT *
FROM `table`
WHERE id >= (SELECT FLOOR( MAX(id) * RAND()) FROM `table` )
ORDER BY id LIMIT 1;
我測試了一下，需要0.5秒，速度也不錯，但是跟上面的語句還是有很大差距。總覺有什么地方不正常。
於是我把語句改寫了一下。
SELECT * FROM `table`
WHERE id >= (SELECT floor(RAND() * (SELECT MAX(id) FROM `table`)))
ORDER BY id LIMIT 1;
這下，效率又提高了，查詢時間只有0.01秒
最后，再把語句完善一下，加上MIN(id)的判斷。我在最開始測試的時候，就是因為沒有加上MIN(id)的判斷，結果有一半的時間總是查詢到表中的前面幾行。
完整查詢語句是：
SELECT * FROM `table`
WHERE id >= (SELECT floor( RAND() * ((SELECT MAX(id) FROM `table`)-(SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`)) + (SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`)))
ORDER BY id LIMIT 1;
SELECT *
FROM `table` AS t1 JOIN (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * ((SELECT MAX(id) FROM `table`)-(SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`))+(SELECT MIN(id) FROM `table`)) AS id) AS t2
WHERE t1.id >= t2.id
ORDER BY t1.id LIMIT 1;
最后在php中對這兩個語句進行分別查詢10次，
前者花費時間 0.147433 秒
后者花費時間 0.015130 秒
看來采用JOIN的語法比直接在WHERE中使用函數效率還要高很多。
此方法limit如果大於1,返回的結果會是連續的記錄。