Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Keith Thompson Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,sci.math.num-analysis Subject: Re: srand(0) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:39:33 -0800 Organization: None to speak of Lines: 17 Message-ID: <87ikbsgxy2.fsf@example.invalid> References: <10ib0ka$3cgil$1@dont-email.me> <10ibava$2sora$1@dont-email.me> <10ibcub$25ihi$2@dont-email.me> <10ibu81$2sora$2@dont-email.me> <10ibvrm$25ihh$2@dont-email.me> <20251222204538.00003fc2@yahoo.com> <10iekvr$pa8n$1@paganini.bofh.team> <20251224000824.00005ce7@yahoo.com> <86tswxnznu.fsf@linuxsc.com> <20260108010601.00002085@yahoo.com> <864inyj6ug.fsf@linuxsc.com> <20260203163708.0000459e@yahoo.com> <86y0kqfq85.fsf@linuxsc.com> <10n47bi$2io53$3@dont-email.me> <10n6jgg$3bj7e$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:39:41 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="baf97f2965d0c3737141b8bbaf84e7f7"; logging-data="4109437"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19hIqq1kAe4A3cqVYvg2M63" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Cancel-Lock: sha1:NJSA1R/rTDQeseKhPMoa+yDuGpk= sha1:gJAwFmiUYbAxL6HnxteFMDoUmYI= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:396685 sci.math.num-analysis:34100 David Brown writes: [...] > As a deterministic function, a PRNG will obviously follow the pattern > of its generating function. But the aim is to have no /discernible/ > pattern. The sequence 3, 4, 2, 1, 1, 7, 0, 6, 7 has no pattern that > could be identified without knowledge of where they came from - and > thus no way to predict the next number, 9, in the sequence. But there > is a pattern there - it's the 90th - 100th digits of the decimal > expansion of pi. [...] A Google search for 342117067 gives numerous hits referring to the digits of pi. -- Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */