The random number library provides classes that generate random and pseudo-random numbers. These classes include:
URBGs and distributions are designed to be used together to produce random values. All of the random number engines may be specifically seeded, serialized, and de-serialized for use with repeatable simulators.
[edit] Uniform random bit generatorsA uniform random bit generator is a function object returning unsigned integer values such that each value in the range of possible results has (ideally) equal probability of being returned.
All uniform random bit generators meet the UniformRandomBitGenerator requirements. C++20 also defines a uniform_random_bit_generator
concept.
A random number engine (commonly shortened to engine ) is a uniform random bit generator which generates pseudo-random numbers using seed data as entropy source.
At any given time, an engine e of type E
has a state ei
for some non-negative integer i. Upon construction, e has an initial state e0
, which is determined by engine parameters and an initial seed (or seed sequence).
The following properties are always defined for any engine type E
:
E
âs state in multiples of the size of E::result_type
(i.e. (sizeof ei
) / sizeof(E::result_type)).i
is advanced to its successor state ei+1
(i.e. TA(ei
) == ei+1
).E::result_type
, the result is a pseudo-random number.A pseudo-random number sequence can be generated by calling TA and GA alternatively.
The standard library provides the implementations of three different classes of pseudo-random number generation algorithms as class templates, so that the algorithms can be customized. The choice of which engine to use involves a number of trade-offs:
None of these random number engines are cryptographically secure. As with any secure operation, a crypto library should be used for the purpose (e.g. OpenSSL RAND_bytes
).
All types instantiated from these templates meet the RandomNumberEngine requirements.
[edit] Random number engine adaptorsRandom number engine adaptors generate pseudo-random numbers using another random number engine as entropy source. They are generally used to alter the spectral characteristics of the underlying engine.
[edit] Predefined random number generatorsSeveral specific popular algorithms are predefined.
Type Definitionminstd_rand0
(C++11) std::linear_congruential_engine<std::uint_fast32_t,
16807, 0, 2147483647>
Discovered in 1969 by Lewis, Goodman and Miller, adopted as "Minimal standard" in 1988 by Park and Miller[edit]
minstd_rand
(C++11)
std::linear_congruential_engine<std::uint_fast32_t,
48271, 0, 2147483647>
Newer "Minimum standard", recommended by Park, Miller, and Stockmeyer in 1993[edit]
mt19937
(C++11)
std::mersenne_twister_engine<std::uint_fast32_t,
32, 624, 397, 31,
0x9908b0df, 11,
0xffffffff, 7,
0x9d2c5680, 15,
0xefc60000, 18, 1812433253>
32-bit Mersenne Twister by Matsumoto and Nishimura, 1998[edit]
mt19937_64
(C++11)
std::mersenne_twister_engine<std::uint_fast64_t,
64, 312, 156, 31,
0xb5026f5aa96619e9, 29,
0x5555555555555555, 17,
0x71d67fffeda60000, 37,
0xfff7eee000000000, 43,
6364136223846793005>
64-bit Mersenne Twister by Matsumoto and Nishimura, 2000[edit]
ranlux24_base
(C++11) std::subtract_with_carry_engine<std::uint_fast32_t, 24, 10, 24>[edit] ranlux48_base
(C++11) std::subtract_with_carry_engine<std::uint_fast64_t, 48, 5, 12>[edit] ranlux24
(C++11) std::discard_block_engine<std::ranlux24_base, 223, 23>
24-bit RANLUX generator by Martin Lüscher and Fred James, 1994[edit]
ranlux48
(C++11) std::discard_block_engine<std::ranlux48_base, 389, 11>
48-bit RANLUX generator by Martin Lüscher and Fred James, 1994[edit]
knuth_b
(C++11) std::shuffle_order_engine<std::minstd_rand0, 256>[edit] philox4x32
(C++26) std::philox_engine<std::uint_fast32_t, 32, 4, 10,
0xCD9E8D57, 0x9E3779B9,
0xD2511F53, 0xBB67AE85>[edit] philox4x64
(C++26) std::philox_engine<std::uint_fast64_t, 64, 4, 10,
0xCA5A826395121157, 0x9E3779B97F4A7C15,
0xD2E7470EE14C6C93, 0xBB67AE8584CAA73B>[edit] default_random_engine
(C++11) an implementation-defined RandomNumberEngine type [edit] Non-deterministic random numbers
std::random_device is a non-deterministic uniform random bit generator, although implementations are allowed to implement std::random_device using a pseudo-random number engine if there is no support for non-deterministic random number generation.
non-deterministic random number generator using hardware entropy sourceA random number distribution post-processes the output of a URBG in such a way that resulting output is distributed according to a defined statistical probability density function.
Random number distributions satisfy RandomNumberDistribution.
[edit] Utilities evenly distributes real values of given precision across[
â0â,
1)
In addition to the engines and distributions described above, the functions and constants from the C random library are also available though not recommended:
[edit] Example#include <cmath> #include <iomanip> #include <iostream> #include <map> #include <random> #include <string> int main() { // Seed with a real random value, if available std::random_device r; // Choose a random mean between 1 and 6 std::default_random_engine e1(r()); std::uniform_int_distribution<int> uniform_dist(1, 6); int mean = uniform_dist(e1); std::cout << "Randomly-chosen mean: " << mean << '\n'; // Generate a normal distribution around that mean std::seed_seq seed2{r(), r(), r(), r(), r(), r(), r(), r()}; std::mt19937 e2(seed2); std::normal_distribution<> normal_dist(mean, 2); std::map<int, int> hist; for (int n = 0; n != 10000; ++n) ++hist[std::round(normal_dist(e2))]; std::cout << "Normal distribution around " << mean << ":\n" << std::fixed << std::setprecision(1); for (auto [x, y] : hist) std::cout << std::setw(2) << x << ' ' << std::string(y / 200, '*') << '\n'; }
Possible output:
Randomly-chosen mean: 4 Normal distribution around 4: -4 -3 -2 -1 0 * 1 *** 2 ****** 3 ******** 4 ********* 5 ******** 6 ****** 7 *** 8 * 9 10 11 12[edit] See also
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