[Resolved] [Resolved] what exactly seeding random numbers means?

[phpsharma]

Hi,

I am looking at random() function to pick a random number.

I came across this note in manual:

"Don't forget to call srand() to seed the random number generator"

what is seeding?. whats the impotance of seeding ?.

can any one here explain this?

Thanks,
sharma

[Weedpacket]

As of PHP4.2.0 you don't need to do this yourself. PHP will do it automatically (this is noted in the manual).

The random number generator has to start with a number. This is called the seed. The RNG will use the seed to generate the first few numbers it outputs. After that, it will use the numbers it has already generated to generate more. And the whole sequence of numbers it outputs grows out of that.

The usefulness of being able to supply the seed yourself is that if you use the same seed (and the same RNG), you get the same sequence of numbers.

[drawmack]

[off topic]I once saw a picture that was a scene from field of dreams but instead of a baseball player it was Allen Turin saying "If you seed it, it will generate."[/off topic]

[phpsharma]

i got it