RAND
RAND
NAMESYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
RETURN VALUE
CONFORMING TO
NOTES
EXAMPLE
SEE ALSO
COLOPHON
NAME
rand, rand_r, srand − pseudo-random number generator
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
int rand(void);
int rand_r(unsigned int *seedp);
void srand(unsigned int seed);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
rand_r(): _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 1 || _XOPEN_SOURCE || _POSIX_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
The rand() function returns a pseudo-random integer in the range 0 to RAND_MAX inclusive (i.e., the mathematical range [0, RAND_MAX]).
The srand() function sets its argument as the seed for a new sequence of pseudo-random integers to be returned by rand(). These sequences are repeatable by calling srand() with the same seed value.
If no seed value is provided, the rand() function is automatically seeded with a value of 1.
The function rand() is not reentrant or thread-safe, since it uses hidden state that is modified on each call. This might just be the seed value to be used by the next call, or it might be something more elaborate. In order to get reproducible behavior in a threaded application, this state must be made explicit; this can be done using the reentrant function rand_r().
Like rand(), rand_r() returns a pseudo-random integer in the range [0, RAND_MAX]. The seedp argument is a pointer to an unsigned int that is used to store state between calls. If rand_r() is called with the same initial value for the integer pointed to by seedp, and that value is not modified between calls, then the same pseudo-random sequence will result.
The value pointed to by the seedp argument of rand_r() provides only a very small amount of state, so this function will be a weak pseudo-random generator. Try drand48_r(3) instead.
RETURN VALUE
The rand() and rand_r() functions return a value between 0 and RAND_MAX (inclusive). The srand() function returns no value.
CONFORMING TO
The functions rand() and srand() conform to SVr4, 4.3BSD, C89, C99, POSIX.1-2001. The function rand_r() is from POSIX.1-2001. POSIX.1-2008 marks rand_r() as obsolete.
NOTES
The versions of rand() and srand() in the Linux C Library use the same random number generator as random(3) and srandom(3), so the lower-order bits should be as random as the higher-order bits. However, on older rand() implementations, and on current implementations on different systems, the lower-order bits are much less random than the higher-order bits. Do not use this function in applications intended to be portable when good randomness is needed. (Use random(3) instead.)
EXAMPLE
POSIX.1-2001 gives the following example of an implementation of rand() and srand(), possibly useful when one needs the same sequence on two different machines.
static unsigned long next = 1;
/* RAND_MAX
assumed to be 32767 */
int myrand(void) {
next = next * 1103515245 + 12345;
return((unsigned)(next/65536) % 32768);
}
void
mysrand(unsigned int seed) {
next = seed;
}
The following program can be used to display the pseudo-random sequence produced by rand() when given a particular seed.
#include
<stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int j, r, nloops;
unsigned int seed;
if (argc != 3)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <seed>
<nloops>\n", argv[0]);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
seed =
atoi(argv[1]);
nloops = atoi(argv[2]);
srand(seed);
for (j = 0; j < nloops; j++) {
r = rand();
printf("%d\n", r);
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
SEE ALSO
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.69 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man−pages/.
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
