4.16 Random

Random( D )

Random returns a random element of the domain D. The distribution of elements returned by Random depends on the domain D. For finite domains all elements are usually equally likely. For infinite domains some reasonable distribution is used. See the chapters of the various domains to find out which distribution is being used.

    gap> Random( GaussianIntegers );
    1-4*E(4)
    gap> Random( GaussianIntegers );
    1+2*E(4)
    gap> Random( D12 );
    ()
    gap> Random( D12 );
    (1,4)(2,5)(3,6) 

The default function for random selection is DomainOps.Random, which computes the set of elements using Elements and selects a random element of this list using RandomList (see RandomList for a description of the pseudo random number generator used). This default function can of course only be applied to finite domains. It is overlaid by other functions for most other domains.

All random functions called this way rely on the low level random number generator provided by RandomList (see RandomList).

Previous Up Top
Index