GRandom ( MEAN, STDDEV )
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MEAN | VALUE(FLOAT) | The distribution mean. |
| STDDEV | VALUE(FLOAT) | The standard deviation from the mean. |
Returns
| VALUE(FLOAT) | A random floating-point value. |
What It Does
This function returns a random floating-point value from negative infinity to positive infinity, with Gaussian distribution centered on the mean, with a specified standard deviation. The input values, if they are not floating-point, are interpreted as floating-point.
Most uses of this function would for approximating multiple independent random values, as the combined distribution around such a task is a Gaussian (or "bell") curve. This means that there's a greater chance that values will be selected closer to the mean then any other part of the numeric continuum.
A mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1 would give you most results around the range of -π to +π, on average.
Example
NOTE: The following code will return different values every time it is executed!
Random Function Examples
world
{
start()
{
local a;
a = 10;
textln("Generating " + a + " integers from 0 to 9:");
while (a > 0)
{
textln(irandom(10));
a = a - 1;
}
textln("");
a = 10;
textln("Generating " + a + " floats from [0.0, 1.0):");
while (a > 0)
{
textln(frandom());
a = a - 1;
}
textln("");
a = 10;
textln("Generating " + a + " Gaussian floats, mean 0, std. dev. 1:");
while (a > 0)
{
textln(grandom(0, 1));
a = a - 1;
}
quit;
}
}
See Also
Additional Technical Notes
The method of generating random numbers is up to the TAME implementation (Java, JS, etc.), and the generator has not been standardized, yet.
There is currently no way to seed the random number generator for testing purposes, at the time of this writing.