randomNameGenerator.php

<?php

class randomNameGenerator {

	private $version;
	public $allowedFormats;
	public $inputFormat;

	public function __construct( $output = 'array' ) {

		$this->version = '1.0.0';
		$this->allowedFormats = array('array', 'json', 'associative_array');
		$this->inputFormat = 'json';

		if ( !in_array( $output, $this->allowedFormats ) ) {
			throw new Exception('Unrecognized format');
		}

		$this->output = $output;
	}

	private function getList( $type ) {
		$json = file_get_contents($type . '.' . $this->inputFormat, FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH );
		$data = json_decode( $json, true );

		return $data;
	}

	public function generateNames( $num ) {

		if ( !is_numeric( $num ) ) {
			throw new Exception('Not a number');
		}

		$first_names = $this->getList('first-names');
		$last_names  = $this->getList('last-names');

		$count = range(1, $num );
		$name_r = array();

		foreach( $count as $name ) {
				$count++;
				$random_fname_index = array_rand( $first_names );
				$random_lname_index = array_rand( $last_names );

				$first_name = $first_names[$random_fname_index];
				$last_name = $last_names[$random_lname_index];

				if( $this->output == 'array' ) {
					$name_arr[] = $first_name . ' ' . $last_name;
				} elseif( $this->output == 'associative_array' || $this->output == 'json' ) {
					$name_arr[] = array( 'first_name' => $first_name, 'last_name' => $last_name );
				}
		}

		if( $this->output == 'json' ) {
			$name_arr = json_encode( $name_arr );
		}

		return $name_arr;
	}

}