java.util
Class Random

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.util.Random

@TransactionType(value=NOT_SUPPORTED)
public class Random
extends Object

An instance of this class is used to generate a stream of pseudorandom numbers. The class uses a 48-bit seed, which is modified using a linear congruential formula. (See Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 2, Section 3.2.1.)

If two instances of Random are created with the same seed, and the same sequence of method calls is made for each, they will generate and return identical sequences of numbers. In order to guarantee this property, particular algorithms are specified for the class Random. Java implementations must use all the algorithms shown here for the class Random, for the sake of absolute portability of Java code. However, subclasses of class Random are permitted to use other algorithms, so long as they adhere to the general contracts for all the methods.

The algorithms implemented by class Random use a protected utility method that on each invocation can supply up to 32 pseudorandomly generated bits.

Since:
JDK1.0, CLDC 1.0, Java Card 3.0

Constructor Summary
Random()
          Creates a new random number generator.
Random(long seed)
          Creates a new random number generator using a single long seed:
 
Method Summary
protected  int next(int bits)
          Generates the next pseudorandom number.
 int nextInt()
          Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value from this random number generator's sequence.
 int nextInt(int n)
          Returns a pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value between 0 (inclusive) and the specified value (exclusive), drawn from this random number generator's sequence.
 long nextLong()
          Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed long value from this random number generator's sequence.
 void setSeed(long seed)
          Sets the seed of this random number generator using a single long seed.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

Random

public Random()
Creates a new random number generator. Its seed is initialized to a value based on the current time:
 public Random() {
     this(System.currentTimeMillis());
 }
 

See Also:
System.currentTimeMillis()

Random

public Random(long seed)
Creates a new random number generator using a single long seed:
 public Random(long seed) {
     setSeed(seed);
 }
 
Used by method next to hold the state of the pseudorandom number generator.

Parameters:
seed - the initial seed.
See Also:
setSeed(long)
Method Detail

setSeed

public void setSeed(long seed)
Sets the seed of this random number generator using a single long seed. The general contract of setSeed is that it alters the state of this random number generator object so as to be in exactly the same state as if it had just been created with the argument seed as a seed. The method setSeed is implemented by class Random as follows:
 synchronized public void setSeed(long seed) {
     this.seed = (seed ˆ 0x5DEECE66DL) & ((1L << 48) - 1);
 }
 
The implementation of setSeed by class Random happens to use only 48 bits of the given seed. In general, however, an overriding method may use all 64 bits of the long argument as a seed value.

Parameters:
seed - the initial seed.

next

protected int next(int bits)
Generates the next pseudorandom number. Subclass should override this, as this is used by all other methods.

The general contract of next is that it returns an int value and if the argument bits is between 1 and 32 (inclusive), then that many low-order bits of the returned value will be (approximately) independently chosen bit values, each of which is (approximately) equally likely to be 0 or 1. The method next is implemented by class Random as follows:

 synchronized protected int next(int bits) {
     seed = (seed * 0x5DEECE66DL + 0xBL) & ((1L << 48) - 1);
     return (int) (seed >>> (48 - bits));
 }
 
This is a linear congruential pseudorandom number generator, as defined by D. H. Lehmer and described by Donald E. Knuth in The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms, section 3.2.1.

Parameters:
bits - random bits
Returns:
the next pseudorandom value from this random number generator's sequence.

nextInt

public int nextInt()
Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value from this random number generator's sequence. The general contract of nextInt is that one int value is pseudorandomly generated and returned. All 232 possible int values are produced with (approximately) equal probability. The method nextInt is implemented by class Random as follows:
 public int nextInt() {
     return next(32);
 }
 

Returns:
the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value from this random number generator's sequence.

nextInt

public int nextInt(int n)
Returns a pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value between 0 (inclusive) and the specified value (exclusive), drawn from this random number generator's sequence. The general contract of nextInt is that one int value in the specified range is pseudorandomly generated and returned. All n possible int values are produced with (approximately) equal probability. The method nextInt(int n) is implemented by class Random as follows:
 public int nextInt(int n) {
     if (n <= 0)
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("n must be positive");
 
     if ((n & -n) == n) // i.e., n is a power of 2
         return (int) ((n * (long) next(31)) >> 31);
 
     int bits, val;
     do {
         bits = next(31);
         val = bits % n;
     } while (bits - val + (n - 1) < 0);
     return val;
 }
 

The hedge "approximately" is used in the foregoing description only because the next method is only approximately an unbiased source of independently chosen bits. If it were a perfect source of randomly chosen bits, then the algorithm shown would choose int values from the stated range with perfect uniformity.

The algorithm rejects values that would result in an uneven distribution (due to the fact that 2^31 is not divisible by n). The probability of a value being rejected depends on n. The worst case is n=2^30+1, for which the probability of a reject is 1/2, and the expected number of iterations before the loop terminates is 2.

The algorithm treats the case where n is a power of two specially: it returns the correct number of high-order bits from the underlying pseudo-random number generator. In the absence of special treatment, the correct number of low-order bits would be returned. Linear congruential pseudo-random number generators such as the one implemented by this class are known to have short periods in the sequence of values of their low-order bits. Thus, this special case greatly increases the length of the sequence of values returned by successive calls to this method if n is a small power of two.

Parameters:
n - the bound on the random number to be returned. Must be positive.
Returns:
a pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value between 0 (inclusive) and n (exclusive).
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - n is not positive.
Since:
CLDC 1.1

nextLong

public long nextLong()
Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed long value from this random number generator's sequence. The general contract of nextLong is that one long value is pseudorandomly generated and returned. All 264 possible long values are produced with (approximately) equal probability. The method nextLong is implemented by class Random as follows:
 public long nextLong() {
     return ((long) next(32) << 32) + next(32);
 }
 

Returns:
the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed long value from this random number generator's sequence.


Copyright (c) 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.