See [random] for the newer version.

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This is a package that provides an alternative pseudo-random number generator based upon the Mersenne Twister PRNG algorithm ([http://www.math.keio.ac.jp/~matumoto/emt.html], [http://www.coyotegulch.com/algorithm/libcoyote/TwistedRoad/TwistedRoad.html]). This PRNG has an enormous period (in fact it is 2**19937-1 which is a Mersenne Prime, hence the name). It is also suposedly faster than the standard C library rand() function. Furthermore, while the stock Tcl rand function generates numbers in the range (0,1) - randmt produces numbers in the range [[0,1]]. If required, it can also produce values within (0,1) as well as integer values (any 32bit value) - we would just need some names for these functions.

Currently the code is available at
 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.tclsoap.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/tclsoap co RandMT
and the distributable files are at http://sourceforge.net/projects/tclsoap in the downloads section.

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[EKB] This might be a good candidate for the Tcl core as an additional math function ::tcl::math::randmt, since it is a compiled extension. The existing rand could be renamed ::tcl::math::randlc (for linear congruential generator), and then rand could be defined as one of these, either as a proc or using rename:

   rename ::tcl::math::randmt ::tcl::math::rand

That way, any existing code could use either random number generator (or other future alternatives).

Does this sound interesting to people? If it does, I could draft a TIP.
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[[ [Category Mathematics] | [Category Package] ]]