Module Stdlib.Random

Pseudo-random number generators (PRNG).

Basic functions

val init : int -> unit

Initialize the generator, using the argument as a seed. The same seed will always yield the same sequence of numbers.

val full_init : int array -> unit

Same as Random.init but takes more data as seed.

val self_init : unit -> unit

Initialize the generator with a random seed chosen in a system-dependent way. If /dev/urandom is available on the host machine, it is used to provide a highly random initial seed. Otherwise, a less random seed is computed from system parameters (current time, process IDs).

val bits : unit -> int

Return 30 random bits in a nonnegative integer.

  • before 3.12.0

    used a different algorithm (affects all the following functions)

val int : int -> int

Random.int bound returns a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and bound (exclusive). bound must be greater than 0 and less than 230.

val full_int : int -> int

Random.full_int bound returns a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and bound (exclusive). bound may be any positive integer.

If bound is less than 230, Random.full_int bound is equal to Random.int bound. If bound is greater than 230 (on 64-bit systems or non-standard environments, such as JavaScript), Random.full_int returns a value, where Random.int raises Invalid_argument.

  • since 4.13.0
val int32 : Int32.t -> Int32.t

Random.int32 bound returns a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and bound (exclusive). bound must be greater than 0.

val nativeint : Nativeint.t -> Nativeint.t

Random.nativeint bound returns a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and bound (exclusive). bound must be greater than 0.

val int64 : Int64.t -> Int64.t

Random.int64 bound returns a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and bound (exclusive). bound must be greater than 0.

val float : float -> float

Random.float bound returns a random floating-point number between 0 and bound (inclusive). If bound is negative, the result is negative or zero. If bound is 0, the result is 0.

val bool : unit -> bool

Random.bool () returns true or false with probability 0.5 each.

val bits32 : unit -> Int32.t

Random.bits32 () returns 32 random bits as an integer between Int32.min_int and Int32.max_int.

  • since 4.14.0
val bits64 : unit -> Int64.t

Random.bits64 () returns 64 random bits as an integer between Int64.min_int and Int64.max_int.

  • since 4.14.0
val nativebits : unit -> Nativeint.t

Random.nativebits () returns 32 or 64 random bits (depending on the bit width of the platform) as an integer between Nativeint.min_int and Nativeint.max_int.

  • since 4.14.0

Advanced functions

The functions from module State manipulate the current state of the random generator explicitly. This allows using one or several deterministic PRNGs, even in a multi-threaded program, without interference from other parts of the program.

module State : sig ... end
val get_state : unit -> State.t

Return the current state of the generator used by the basic functions.

val set_state : State.t -> unit

Set the state of the generator used by the basic functions.