random function

The random function is provided to generate sequences of pseudo-random numbers. The argument is an integer seed value, from which a random number is derived. Each seed value will generally give a different (and unpredictable) result. The same seed value will always give the same return value. Note that the return value can be negative.

To generate a sequence of random numbers, use the return value as the new seed:

  int seed = 1234  seed = random(seed)  ; seed now contains the first random value  seed = random(seed)  ; seed now contains the second random value    

This allows you to set up multiple independent sequences of random numbers, just by declaring and using multiple seed variables.

• To obtain a random floating-point value between 0 and 1, use abs(seed) / #randomrange.
• To obtain a random integer between 0 and n – 1, use abs(seed) % n.

See Also
Random values
#random

random function