From: G DOT DegliEsposti AT ads DOT it
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Message-ID: <C12565D0.0049181A.00@vega.ads.it>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 14:36:04 +0100
Subject: Re: real random numbers
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>If anyone could tell me how to get REAL random generated numbers under
>djgpp ... and/or explain me how it works ! I wonder for a long time how
>a computer can generate random numbers

I would like to know it too! ;-)

Computers cannot generate real random numbers, what they can do is run some
program in a deterministic way. (at least PCs do :-)

Random numbers on PCs are actually pseudo-random numbers. They are
generated
using some functions with particular mathematical properties:
they return numbers very well distributed on a particular set of values and
IIRC they return the original sequence of values only after a number of
calls
greater then the cardinality of the given set of values.

This makes the functions look like if they generate random numbers, but
they
actually don't!

ciao
  Giacomo