Random

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Published Oct 10, 2021Updated Oct 15, 2021
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The Random class is present in the java.util package. It is used to generate random values or streams of random values of specific data types.

Usage

The Random class can be accessed by importing it as follows:

import java.util.Random;

When an instance of the Random class is created, either a seed value is passed to the constructor or no values are passed at all.

The seed is a value that gets manipulated (using a linear congruential formula) to produce a stream of pseudorandom values. The Random class uses a 48-bit seed.

In this code, objects rand1 and rand2 of the Random type are created using the new keyword. While no parameters are passed during the creation of rand1, a seed value is used during the creation of rand2.

Random rand1 = new Random();
long seed = (long)3.142;
Random rand2 = new Random(seed);

The value of the seed can be set or modified at any point during the execution of the program using the .setSeed() method.

long newseed = (long)2.7182;
rand2.setSeed(newseed);

Note: If two objects of type Random are created with the same seed, they will generate the same sequence of numbers, provided they are subject to the same sequence of method calls.

Generating Individual Values

The following methods can be used to generate the next pseudorandom number from the generator’s sequence.

  • The .nextDouble() and .nextFloat() methods return values in range [0,1). This means that the range is inclusive of zero (indicated by the square bracket) and exclusive of 1 (indicated by the parenthesis).
  • The .nextInt() and .nextLong() methods have no such limits.

Note: In the absence of a seed, these methods return different values every time they are called or even for separate instances:

float f = rand1.nextFloat();
double d = rand1.nextDouble();
int i = rand1.nextInt();
long l = rand1.nextLong();
boolean b = rand1.nextBoolean();
System.out.println("Random float: " + f);
System.out.println("Random double: " + d);
System.out.println("Random integer: " + i);
System.out.println("Random long: " + l);
System.out.println("Random boolean: " + b);

The output will look like this:

Random float: 0.13293427
Random double: 0.900476085026994
Random integer: 152429987
Random long: -4775630185711902523
Random boolean: 1

The .nextInt() method can also be used with an upper bound so that the generated value is between 0 and that upper bound.

i = rand1.nextInt(25);
System.out.println("Random integer in range [0,25): " + i);

The output will be:

Random integer in range [0,25): 16

A byte array can also be filled with random elements using the .nextBytes() method.

byte[] b = new byte [5];
rand1.nextBytes(b);
System.out.print("Random byte array: ");
for (byte j: b)
System.out.print(j + " ");

The output looks like this:

Random byte array: -44 -82 44 62 -111

Generating Streams

IntStream, DoubleStream and LongStream objects can be produced using the .ints(), .doubles() and .longs() methods, respectively.

The following example illustrates the generation of a DoubleStream object and can be extrapolated for the other two object types as well.

To use an object of this type, the following import statement must be used:

import java.util.stream.DoubleStream;

An unlimited stream of pseudorandom double values, each in the range [0,1), can be generated using the following code snippet. A DoubleStream is a stream over objects of double type:

DoubleStream stream;
stream = rand1.doubles();

An effectively unlimited stream of pseudorandom double values, each in the range specified, can be generated using the following code snippet. The parameters are the lower bound and the upper bound, respectively:

stream = rand1.doubles(0,10);

Note: In the above method, the lower bound is inclusive but the upper bound is exclusive.

A stream of specified size of values in range [0,1) can be generated using the following code snippet. The parameter represents the size of the stream:

stream = rand1.doubles(5);

A stream of specified size with values in a specified range can be generated using the following code snippet. The parameters are the size of stream, the lower bound and the upper bound, respectively:

stream = rand1.doubles(5, 0, 10);

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