How Can I Generate Random Floats in C ?

Random Float Generation in C

In C , the task of generating random floats can be achieved by utilizing the built-in rand() function, commonly employed for producing pseudo-random integers. However, the assumption that dividing rand() by a value would suffice for generating random floats is incorrect.

To obtain random floats effectively, the following approaches can be used:

0 to 1 Range:

To generate a random float between 0.0 and 1.0 (inclusive), the expression below provides appropriate values:

float r = static_cast<float>(rand()) / static_cast<float>(RAND_MAX);

0 to Arbitrary Float:

For generating a random float between 0.0 and any arbitrary float value, X, the following expression can be employed:

float r2 = static_cast<float>(rand()) / (static_cast<float>(RAND_MAX / X));

Arbitrary Range:

To generate a random float within a range defined by arbitrary values LO and HI, the following expression provides the desired result:

float r3 = LO + static_cast<float>(rand()) / (static_cast<float>(RAND_MAX / (HI - LO)));

It's crucial to note that the rand() function may not always provide truly random numbers that are essential for various applications.

Before using rand(), it is mandatory to initialize the random number generator with a seed value using srand(). This initialization ensures the generation of different random number sequences during the program's execution. The common practice involves utilizing time(0) to generate a seed based on the system clock, as follows:

srand(static_cast<unsigned int>(time(0)));

To use rand and srand, it is necessary to include the header. Additionally, time requires the inclusion of the header.

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