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CRTL, drand48
*Conan The Librarian
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Generates uniformly distributed pseudorandom-number sequences.
Returns 48-bit, nonnegative, double-precision floating-point
values.
Format
#include <stdlib.h>
double drand48 (void);
The drand48 function generates pseudorandom numbers using the
linear congruential algorithm and 48-bit integer arithmetic.
It returns nonnegative, double-precision, floating-point values
uniformly distributed over the range of y values such that 0.0
y < 1.0.
Before you call drand48, use either srand48, seed48, or lcong48
to initialize the random-number generator. You must initialize
prior to invoking the drand48 function because it stores the last
48-bit Xi generated into an internal buffer. (Although it is not
recommended, constant default initializer values are supplied
automatically if the drand48, lrand48, or mrand48 functions are
called without first calling an initialization function.)
The drand48 function works by generating a sequence of 48-bit
integer values, Xi, according to the linear congruential formula:
Xn+1 = (aXn+c)mod m n >= 0
The argument m equals 248, so 48-bit integer arithmetic is
performed. Unless you invoke lcong48, the multiplier value a
and the addend value c are:
a = 5DEECE66D16 = 2736731631558
c = B16 = 138
The values returned by drand48 are computed by first generating
the next 48-bit Xi in the sequence. Then the appropriate bits,
according to the type of returned data item, are copied from the
high-order (most significant) bits of Xi and transformed into the
returned value.
See also srand48, seed48, lcong48, lrand48, and mrand48.
n A nonnegative, double-precision, floating-
point value.