mt_rand(3) [php man page]

MT_RAND(3)								 1								MT_RAND(3)

mt_rand - Generate a better random value

SYNOPSIS

       int mt_rand (void  )

DESCRIPTION

       int mt_rand (int  $min, int  $max)

	Many  random  number  generators of older libcs have dubious or unknown characteristics and are slow. By default, PHP uses the libc random
       number generator with the rand(3) function. The mt_rand(3) function is a drop-in replacement for this. It uses a  random  number  generator
       with  known  characteristics  using  the   Mersenne Twister, which will produce random numbers four times faster than what the average libc
       rand() provides.

	If called without the optional $min, $max arguments mt_rand(3) returns a pseudo-random value between 0 and mt_getrandmax(3). If you want a
       random number between 5 and 15 (inclusive), for example, use mt_rand(5, 15).

       Caution

	      This  function  does  not generate cryptographically secure values, and should not be used for cryptographic purposes. If you need a
	      cryptographically secure value, consider using random_int(3), random_bytes(3), or openssl_random_pseudo_bytes(3) instead.

PARAMETERS

	      o $min
		- Optional lowest value to be returned (default: 0)

	      o $max
		- Optional highest value to be returned (default: mt_getrandmax(3))

RETURN VALUES

	A random integer value between $min (or 0) and $max (or mt_getrandmax(3), inclusive), or FALSE if $max is less than $min.

CHANGELOG

       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |Version |						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|		     Description		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       | 5.3.4	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|  Issues an E_WARNING and returns FALSE if $max  < |
       |	| $min. 					    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
EXAMPLES

       Example #1

	      mt_rand(3) example

	      <?php
	      echo mt_rand() . "
";
	      echo mt_rand() . "
";

	      echo mt_rand(5, 15);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output something similar to:

	      1604716014
	      1478613278
	      6

NOTES

       Caution

	       The  distribution of mt_rand(3) return values is biased towards even numbers on 64-bit builds of PHP when $max is beyond 2^32. This
	      is because if $max is greater than the value returned by mt_getrandmax(3), the output of the random number generator must be  scaled
	      up.

SEE ALSO

       mt_srand(3), mt_getrandmax(3), random_int(3), random_bytes(3), openssl_random_pseudo_bytes(3), rand(3).

PHP Documentation Group 														MT_RAND(3)

Math::RandomOrg(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				      Math::RandomOrg(3pm)

NAME

       Math::RandomOrg - Retrieve random numbers and data from random.org.

SYNOPSIS

	 use Math::RandomOrg qw(randnum randbyte);
	 my $number = randnum(0, 10);
	 my $octet = randbyte(1);

DESCRIPTION

       Math::RandomOrg provides functions for retrieving random data from the random.org server.  Data may be retrieved in an integer or byte-
       stream format using the "randnum" and "randbyte" functions respectively.

REQUIRES

       Carp
       Exporter
       Math::BigInt
       LWP::Simple

EXPORT

       None by default. You may request the following symbols be exported:

       * randnum
       * randbyte

FUNCTIONS

       "checkbuf()"
	   This routine takes no parameters and simply returns a single value (e.g., "28%") telling you how full the buffer is. At 100%, the buf-
	   fer is full and you are free to hit it with automated clients. At 0%, the buffer is empty and requests will hang. When less than 100%,
	   the buffer is being filled continually, but doing so takes time. I advise people with automated clients to check the buffer level every
	   once in a while and only issue requests when the buffer level is 20% or higher.

       "randnum ( $min, $max )"
	   Return an integer (specifically a Math::BigInt object) between the bounds [ $min, $max ] (inclusive).

	   By default, $max and $min are positive and negative 1e9, respectively. These default values represent random.org's current extrema for
	   the bounds of the randnum function.	Therefore, $min and $max may not exceed the default values.

       "randbyte ( $length )"
	   Returns an octet-string of specified length (defaults to one byte), which contains random bytes.

	   $length may not exceed 16,384, as this is the maximum number of bytes retrievable from the random.org server in one request, and making
	   multiple requests for an unbounded amount of data would unfairly tax the random.org server. If you need large amounts of random data,
	   you may wish to try the Math::TrulyRandom module.

       "randseq ( $min, $max )"
	   The randseq script returns a randomized sequence of numbers. This corresponds to dropping a number of lottery tickets into a hat and
	   drawing them out in random order. Hence, each number in a randomized sequence occurs exactly once.

	   Example: "randseq(1, 10)" will return the numbers between 1 and 10 (both inclusive) in a random order.

BUGS

       None known.

SEE ALSO

       * Math::TrulyRandom
       * rand

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2001-2006 Gregory Todd Williams. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the same terms as Perl itself.

AUTHOR

       Gregory Todd Williams  "<gwilliams@cpan.org>"

perl v5.8.8							    2008-03-09						      Math::RandomOrg(3pm)