CODEWITHSUNDEEP
randomnumbersintegergeneratorhelper
Zee_K
Zee_K

Reputation: 39

Is random real in programming?

I am in the process of building a brute force applicaiton however when thinking about encoding, there are codes online that use the word "random" however are they actually totally random numbers generated by the computer. I say this because the way havent been taught about how computers work, goes against this word "random"

Am I correct in thinking there is no "random" in computers? or have I misunderstood.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 115

Answers (3)

user2864830
user2864830

Reputation: 1

So by that logic humans cant generate random numbers either......

It all depends on how you want to argue. If you want to argue for the sake of arguing of coarse they cant. But if you want to just say can we 100% accurately guess the next number they will choose. We cant...thus its random

Upvotes: 0

CodeCaster
CodeCaster

Reputation: 151584

Various platforms provide a pseudo random number generator, which is:

an algorithm for generating a sequence of numbers whose properties approximate the properties of sequences of random numbers.

A lot's already been written here and on other sites why generating a truly random sequence of numbers is hard for machines, see for example Is /dev/random considered truly random?, How can I generate truly (not pseudo) random numbers with C#? and so on.

From Can a computer generate a truly random number? | MIT School of Engineering:

“One thing that traditional computer systems aren’t good at is coin flipping” [...]

There are devices that generate numbers that claim to be truly random. They rely on unpredictable processes like thermal or atmospheric noise rather than human-defined patterns.

Upvotes: 2

Deepankar Singh
Deepankar Singh

Reputation: 674

In programming we often use term 'psuedorandom' because any random number which can be generated by program is based on some logic. Program cannot generate number on its own without any logic.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions