Code: Passphrase Generator

In a couple previous articles I talk about the benefits of randomly generated passphrases. But how do I generate random passphrases you may ask?

The answer is that I use the following Ruby script that looks at the words list that is provided on every Mac OS X 10.4 box:

#!/usr/bin/ruby

words = []
File.open('/usr/share/dict/words','r').each { |line| words << line.chomp }

selected_words = []
while( selected_words.length != 4 )
  w = words[rand(words.length)].capitalize
  selected_words << w if (3..6).include?(w.length)
end

puts selected_words.join

In the event that you don't have access to the same words list, you can use your own by changing the filepath in the second line to that of your own text file. Just put one word per line and save!

EDIT: In case you are wondering, I did have another 2-line version of the script that harnesses the power of ruby's API and syntax, but it actually runs slower, so I went with this one.