random()

Returns a random value in the range 0.0 <= x < 1.0

Signature

random ( ) → double precision
random ( min integer, max integer ) → integer
random ( min bigint, max bigint ) → bigint
random ( min numeric, max numeric ) → numeric

In other engines

PostgreSQL	random
MySQL	RAND()
SQL Server	RAND(), which is per-statement, or NEWID() per row
Oracle	DBMS_RANDOM.VALUE
SQLite	random(), which returns a signed 64-bit integer

SQL Server's RAND() is evaluated once per statement, so ORDER BY RAND() does not shuffle — ORDER BY NEWID() is the idiom. SQLite's random() is not in [0,1) like everyone else's.

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