NAME
Math::Random::MT::Perl - Pure Perl Pseudorandom Number Generator
SYNOPSIS
use Math::Random::MT::Perl;
$gen = Math::Random::MT::Perl->new($seed);
print $gen->rand(3);
OR
use Math::Random::MT qw(srand rand);
# now srand and rand behave as usual, except with 32 bit precsision not ~15DESCRIPTION
Pure Perl implementation of the Mersenne Twister algorithm as implemented in C/XS in Math::Random::MT. The output is identical to the C/XS version. The Mersenne Twister is a 32 bit pseudorandom number generator developed by Makoto Matsumoto and Takuji Nishimura. The algorithm is characterised by a very uniform distribution but is not cryptographically secure. What this means in real terms is that it is fine for modelling but no good for crypto.
This module implements the same two interfaces found in Math::Random::MT, as described in the synopsis above. It defines the following functions.
Functions
- new($seed)
-
Creates a new generator seeded with an unsigned 32-bit integer.
- new(@seed)
-
Creates a new generator seeded with an array of unsigned 32-bit integers.
- rand($num)
-
Can be called via the OO in interface or exported. Behaves exactly like Perl's builtin rand(), returning a number uniformly distributed in [0, $num) ($num defaults to 1) except the underlying complexity is 32 bits rather than some small fraction of this.
- srand($seed)
-
Behaves just like Perl's builtin srand(). If you use this interface, it is strongly recommended that you call srand() explicitly, rather than relying on rand() to call it the first time it is used. Has no effect if called via OO interface - pass the seed(s) to new.
Export
Nothing by default. rand() and srand() on demand.
SPEED
Runs around 1/3-1/2 as fast as Math::Random::MT, however that still means a Benchmark random number generation speed of 100,000/sec on modest hardware, so this is unlikely to cause a significant bottleneck in most circumstances.
SEE ALSO
Math::Random::MT
http://www.math.keio.ac.jp/~matumoto/emt.html
AUTHOR
Dr James Freeman <airmedical@gmail.com>
Credits
almut from perlmonks for 64 bit debug and fix.
Abhijit Menon-Sen, Philip Newton and Sean M. Burke who contributed to Math::Random::MT as this module is simply a translation.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (C) 2008 by Dr James Freeman
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.8 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.