Creating Random number (concurrent safe)

package main

import (
“fmt”
“math/rand”
“time”
)

func main() {

//Using rand.Intn example
// pseudo-random sequence number
// By default it depends on some seed number
// Intn returns, as an int, a non-negative pseudo-random number in [0,n]. It panics if n <= 0.
fmt.Println("My favorite number is ", rand.Intn(50))

//type Rand
// func New(src Source) *Rand -
// New returns a new Rand that uses random values from src to generate other random values

// time package
// func(t Time) UnixNano() int64
// UnixNano returns t as a Unix time, the number of nanoseconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 UTC.
// The result is undefined if the Unix time in nanoseconds cannot be represented by an int64
// (a date before the year 1678 or after 2262). Note that this means the result of calling UnixNano
// on the zero Time is undefined. The result does not depend on the location associated with t.
customSource := rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())
customRand := rand.New(customSource)
fmt.Println(customRand.Intn(100))

// Using rand.Seed
// Seed uses the provided seed value to initialize the default Source to a deterministic state.
// If Seed is not called, the generator behaves as if seeded by Seed(1).
// Seed values that have the same remainder when divided by 2³¹-1 generate the same pseudo-random sequence.
// Seed, unlike the Rand.Seed method, is safe for concurrent use.
rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
fmt.Println("Using seed function:", rand.Intn(200))

}

What’s your question? Based on the information you copied out of math/rand and the time packages’ documentation, I’m going to assume your question is “What’s the best way to create random numbers in Go?”

Per the math/rand documentation:

Random numbers are generated by a Source. Top-level functions, such as Float64 and Int, use a default shared Source that produces a deterministic sequence of values each time a program is run. Use the Seed function to initialize the default Source if different behavior is required for each run. The default Source is safe for concurrent use by multiple goroutines, but Sources created by NewSource are not.

So you can use any of the top-level functions in rand to get random numbers concurrently. The implementations are backed by a sync.Mutex, so if you need to have actually parallel random number creation, then you should create a single *rand.Rand instance per goroutine that you need one.

1 Like

Perfect, you read my mind. Great answer. “*rand.Rand” this is what exactly looking. Thanks

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