RAND

Section: Compatibility Functions (3C)
Updated: August 1, 1992
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NAME

rand, srand - random number generator

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>

void srand(int seed);

int rand(void);

DESCRIPTION

The newer random(3) should be used in new applications; rand remains for compatibility.

Rand uses a multiplicative congruential random number generator with period 2**32 to return successive pseudo-random numbers in the range from 0 to (2**31)-1

The generator is reinitialized by calling srand with 1 as argument. It can be set to a random starting point by calling srand with whatever you like as argument.

RETURN VALUE

The srand function returns no value. The rand function computes a sequence of psuedo-random integers.