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random number generator

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia 0.06 sec.

random number generator

A program routine that produces a random number. Random numbers are created easily in a computer, since there are many random events that take place such as the duration between keystrokes. Only a few milliseconds' difference is enough to seed a random number generation routine with a different starting number each time.

Once seeded, an algorithm computes different numbers throughout the session. The numbers that are created must be distributed evenly over a certain range, and they cannot be predictable (the next number cannot be determined from the last).


random number generator [′ran·dəm ′nəm·bər ‚jen·ə‚rād·ər]
(computer science)
A mathematical program which generates a set of numbers which pass a randomness test.
An analog device that generates a randomly fluctuating variable, and usually operates from an electrical noise source.


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They've substituted the outcome of the historic race for the random number generator.
Researchers are now building random number generators that exploit this unpredictability.
It comes with ACTIVstudio 2 software which offers recording and playback capabilities and a variety of new tools, including rulers for drawing, measuring and crating scaled lines, a protractor for angle measurement and rolling dice that serves as a random number generator.
 
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