C++ Get random number from 0 to max long long integer - c++

Question

I have the following function:
typedef unsigned long long int UINT64;
UINT64 getRandom(const UINT64 &begin = 0, const UINT64 &end = 100) {
return begin >= end ? 0 : begin + (UINT64) ((end - begin)*rand()/(double)RAND_MAX);
};
Whenever I call
getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX);
or
getRandom(0, LLONG_MAX);
I always get the same value 562967133814800. How can I fix this problem?

Answer 1

What is rand()?
According to this the rand() function returns a value in the range [0,RAND_MAX].
What is RAND_MAX?
According to this, RAND_MAX is "an integral constant expression whose value is the maximum value returned by the rand function. This value is library-dependent, but is guaranteed to be at least 32767 on any standard library implementation."
Precision Is An Issue
You take rand()/(double)RAND_MAX, but you have perhaps only 32767 discrete values to work with. Thus, although you have big numbers, you don't really have more numbers. That could be an issue.
Seeding May Be An Issue
Also, you don't talk about how you are calling the function. Do you run the program once with LLONG_MAX and another time with ULLONG_MAX? In that case, the behaviour you are seeing is because you are implicitly using the same random seed each time. Put another way, each time you run the program it will generate the exact same sequence of random numbers.
How can I seed?
You can use the srand() function like so:
#include <stdlib.h> /* srand, rand */
#include <time.h> /* time */
int main (){
srand (time(NULL));
//The rest of your program goes here
}
Now you will get a new sequence of random numbers each time you run your program.
Overflow Is An Issue
Consider this part ((end - begin)*rand()/(double)RAND_MAX).
What is (end-begin)? It is LLONG_MAX or ULLONG_MAX these are, by definition, the largest possible values those data types can hold. Therefore, it would be bad to multiply them by anything. Yet you do! You multiply them by rand(), which is non-zero. This will cause an overflow. But we can fix that...
Order of Operations Is An Issue
You then divide them by RAND_MAX. I think you've got your order of operations wrong here. You really meant to say:
((end - begin) * (rand()/(double)RAND_MAX) )
Note the new parantheses! (rand()/(double)RAND_MAX)
Now you are multiplying an integer by a fraction, so you are guaranteed not to overflow. But that introduces a new problem...
Promotion Is An Issue
But there's an even deeper problem. You divide an int by a double. When you do that the int is promoted to a double. A double is a floating-point number which basically means that it sacrifices precision in order to have a big range. That's probably what's biting you. As you get to bigger and bigger numbers both your ullong and your llong end up getting cast to the same value. This could be especially true if you overflowed your data type first (see above).
Uh oh
So, basically, everything about the PRNG you have presented is wrong.
Perhaps this is why John von Neumann said
Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means
is, of course, living in a state of sin.
And, sometimes, we pay for those sins.
How can I absolve myself?
C++11 provides some nice functionality. You can use it as follows
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
#include <limits>
int main(){
std::random_device rd; //Get a random seed from the OS entropy device, or whatever
std::mt19937_64 eng(rd()); //Use the 64-bit Mersenne Twister 19937 generator
//and seed it with entropy.
//Define the distribution, by default it goes from 0 to MAX(unsigned long long)
//or what have you.
std::uniform_int_distribution<unsigned long long> distr;
//Generate random numbers
for(int n=0; n<40; n++)
std::cout << distr(eng) << ' ';
std::cout << std::endl;
}
(Note that appropriately seeding the generator is difficult. This question addresses that.)

Answer 2

typedef unsigned long long int UINT64;
UINT64 getRandom(UINT64 const& min = 0, UINT64 const& max = 0)
{
return (((UINT64)(unsigned int)rand() << 32) + (UINT64)(unsigned int)rand()) % (max - min) + min;
}
Using shift operation is unsafe since unsigned long long might be less than 64 bits on some machines. You can use unsigned __int64 instead, but keep in mind it's compiler dependant, therefore is available only in certain compilers.
unsigned __int64 getRandom(unsigned __int64 const& min, unsigned __int64 const& max)
{
return (((unsigned __int64)(unsigned int)rand() << 32) + (unsigned __int64)(unsigned int)rand()) % (max - min) + min;
}

Answer 3

Use your own PRNG that meets your requirements rather than the one provided with rand that seems not to and was never guaranteed to.

Answer 4

Given that ULLONG_MAX and LLONG_MAX are both way bigger than the RAND_MAX value, you will certainly get "less precision than you want".
Other than that, there's 50% chance that your value is below the LLONG_MAX, as it is halfway throuogh the range of 64-bit values.
I would suggest using the Mersenne-Twister from the C++11, which has a 64-bit variant
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/random/mt19937_64/
That should give you a value that fits in a 64-bit number.
If you "always get the same value", then it's because you haven't seeded the random number generator, using for example srand(time(0)) - you should normally only seed once, because this sets the "sequence". If the seed is very similar, e.g. you run the same program twice in short succession, you will still get the same sequence, because "time" only ticks once a second, and even then, doesn't change that much. There are various other ways to seed a random number, but for most purposes, time(0) is reasonably good.

Answer 5

You are overflowing the computation, in the expression
((end - begin)*rand()/(double)RAND_MAX)
you are telling the compiler to multiply (ULLONG_MAX - 0) * rand() and then divide by RAND_MAX, you should divide by RAND_MAX first, then multiply by rand().
// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22883840/c-get-random-number-from-0-to-max-long-long-integer
#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h> /* srand, rand */
#include <limits.h>
using std::cout;
using std::endl;
typedef unsigned long long int UINT64;
UINT64 getRandom(const UINT64 &begin = 0, const UINT64 &end = 100) {
//return begin >= end ? 0 : begin + (UINT64) ((end - begin)*rand()/(double)RAND_MAX);
return begin >= end ? 0 : begin + (UINT64) rand()*((end - begin)/RAND_MAX);
};
int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << endl;
cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << endl;
cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << endl;
return 0;
}
See it live in Coliru

Answer 6

union bigRand {
uint64_t ll;
uint32_t ii[2];
};
uint64_t rand64() {
bigRand b;
b.ii[0] = rand();
b.ii[1] = rand();
return b.ll;
}
I am not sure how portable it is. But you could easily modify it depending on how wide RAND_MAX is on the particular platform. As an upside, it is brutally simple. I mean the compiler will likely optimize it to be quite efficient, without extra arithmetic whatsoever. Just the cost of calling rand twice.

Answer 7

The most reasonable solution would be to use C++11's <random>, mt19937_64 would do.
Alternativelly you might try:
return ((double)rand() / ((double)RAND_MAX + 1.0)) * (end - begin + 1) + begin;
to produce numbers in more reasonable way. However note that just like your first attempt, this will still not be producing uniformly distributed numbers (although it might be good enough).

Answer 8

The term (end - begin)*rand() seems produce an overflow. You can alleviate that problem by using (end - begin) * (rand()/(double)RAND_MAX). Using the second way, I get the following results:
15498727792227194880
7275080918072332288
14445630964995612672
14728618955737210880
with the following calls:
std::cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << std::endl;
std::cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << std::endl;
std::cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << std::endl;
std::cout << getRandom(0, ULLONG_MAX) << std::endl;