Question

I have piece of code which generates some Random number and prints out on console. However I am curious about the pattern which it prints, Such as,

import java.util.*;
public class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Random random = new Random(-6732303926L);
            for(int i=0;i<10;i++)
                System.out.println(random.nextInt(10)+" ");    
    }
}

Result : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 – Every number in new line.

And if you change this code a bit! like,

import java.util.*;
public class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Random random = new Random(-6732303926L);
            for(int i=0;i<10;i++)
                System.out.println(random.nextInt(11)+" ");    
    }
}

Result : 8 9 2 2 10 3 8 7 0 10 – Every number in new line.

What is the reason of 0123456789 which is not random at all!?

Answer 1

The reason for the sequence is so that one can test software by making Random predicable with predictable and repeatable sequences using its next methods. Whenever a particular long seed parameter is a parameter to the Random constructor, the instanced Random object is supposed to return the same sequences of values through its next methods. This is a deliberate feature of java.util.Random.

java.util.Random has two constructors:

Random()

and

Random(long seed)

The constructor without a long integer seed uses the system time for creating a seed value for the pseudo random number generator. No two instantiations of Random will use the same seed and you should get a very good pseudo-random sequence. A Random instantiation using the constructor without a seed creates an instance with unpredictable sequences of values that will be pseudo-random.

The constructor with a seed value is intended only for making Random deterministic with predictable sequences using its next methods. The typical use of a seed is for software test purposes where results must be predicable and repeatable. Every instance of Random that uses the same long seed integer will create the same sequence of results every time. The particular long you used causes the sequence to be 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 over and over again when getting one of 10 integer values using nextInt(10) method. This and other predictable sequences that are repeatable every time software executes are very useful for testing software and are not meant for creating unpredictable pseudo-random sequences.