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A comment on Predicting the next Math.random() in Java. Parent comment

Re:Predicting the next Math.random() in Java by michaelt on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @03:52AM (#8256243)
Any language that allows the PRNG to be manually seeded, presumably?

I mean, if manually seeding the PRNG doesn't produce a deterministic result, you wouldn't make it part of the API.

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Re:Predicting the next Math.random() in Java by SeanLuke on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @07:44AM (#8256993)
Nope.

Essentially all languages allow manual seeding: almost none specify guarantees with regard to RNG behavior. I'm pretty sure this is because determinism of a given process important (everyone who does simulation needs that), but locking into potentially bad RNGs for the language or library itself, in fact specifying them, is a really bad idea.

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Re:Predicting the next Math.random() in Java by TheLoneWolfling on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @11:42AM (#8258186)
Counterexample: Python [1]

[1] http://stackoverflow.com/a/19179886/1814881

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