Re:Pseudo-Random vs. True Random (2012)
by McGlockenshire on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:29AM
(#23842003)
FWIW, the information in this article is out of date.
For example, as the article picks on PHP, PHP now uses the Mersenne Twister for regular rand(), and gives access to a CSPRNG through random_int() and random_bytes(). By "now" here I mean as of five years ago.
It's still important for developers to understand the "P" in PRNG, but at least we have less possible foot-shooting by default in PHP now. (Evergreen statement!)
For example, as the article picks on PHP, PHP now uses the Mersenne Twister for regular rand(), and gives access to a CSPRNG through random_int() and random_bytes(). By "now" here I mean as of five years ago.
It's still important for developers to understand the "P" in PRNG, but at least we have less possible foot-shooting by default in PHP now. (Evergreen statement!)