How do you randomise large chunks of code?

[internetheaven]

I have this:

$item1 = "a really, really, really long chunk of code"
$item2 = "another really, really, really long chunk of code"

$random = '$item1#$item2#$item2#$item2'; 

$random = explode('#', $random); 
shuffle($random); 
$random = implode('#', $random);
$random1 = substr($random, 0, strpos($random, '#')).'';

$random2 = '$item1#$item2#$item2#$item2'; 

$random = explode('#', $random); 
shuffle($random); 
$random = implode('#', $random);
$random3 = substr($random, 0, strpos($random, '#')).'';

echo $random1;
echo $random3;

which actually prints $item1 or $item2 on the page. It doesn't, (as I'd hoped), display the large chunk of code for each item.

[lucy24]

$random = '$item1#$item2#$item2#$item2'

Wouldn't it have to be
$item1 . '#' . $item2 ... et cetera?

What I really wondered though is why you even need to do this. Wouldn't it be more efficient to make each numbered item (is it actually item3, item4 etc or are you mixing three from column B with one from column A?) a separate named function, and just randomize the four names?