RAND

Section: MINTLIB LIBRARY FUNCTIONS (3)
Updated: 3 March 1993
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NAME

rand, srand - simple random number generator

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>

int rand(void);

void srand(unsigned int seed);

DESCRIPTION

rand is a simple random number generator that returns pseudo- random numbers in the range 0 to 2^15 - 1 (16-bit integers) or 0 to 2^31 - 1 (32-bit integers). The period of this random number generator is 2^31 - 2, irrespective of the integer size. srand can be called at any time to reset the random number generator to a random starting point. The generator is initially seeded with a value of 1.

NOTES

Although random is slower, it is a far better random number generator. It seems that BSD UN*X srand returns the previous seed.