Random Seeds

Can anyone help explain this? Look like expected behavior?

Math.srand(System.getTimer());
var myRand = Math.rand().toNumber();
System.println("INT:" + myRand);

With a seed value that changes, the numbers are not very disperse:
INT:406664780
INT:406660780
INT:406673676
INT:406669676
INT:406682060
INT:406677548
INT:406755468
INT:406751468
INT:406764364

With no seed value, the random numbers are much more disperse:
INT:246070464
INT:1587069126
INT:1557617967
INT:1230885902
INT:717365045
INT:1236854271
INT:493856309
INT:1037073038
INT:2015850094

ekutter-dnu over 7 years ago

Are you calling srand on every iteration? Generally you only want to call it once. It just keeps the sequence from always starting at the same place. Giving it nearly identical seeds each time is likely to give you what you see.

DaveBrillhart over 7 years ago

Are you calling srand on every iteration? Generally you only want to call it once. It just keeps the sequence from always starting at the same place. Giving it nearly identical seeds each time is likely to give you what you see.

Makes sense. Thx!