I am trying to generate a random string in Go and here is the code I have written so far:
package main
import (
"bytes"
"fmt"
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func main() {
fmt.Println(randomString(10))
}
func randomString(l int) string {
var result bytes.Buffer
var temp string
for i := 0; i < l; {
if string(randInt(65, 90)) != temp {
temp = string(randInt(65, 90))
result.WriteString(temp)
i++
}
}
return result.String()
}
func randInt(min int, max int) int {
rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
return min + rand.Intn(max-min)
}
My implementation is very slow. Seeding using time brings the same random number for a certain time, so the loop iterates again and again. How can I improve my code?
Each time you set the same seed, you get the same sequence. So of course if you're setting the seed to the time in a fast loop, you'll probably call it with the same seed many times.
In your case, as you're calling your randInt function until you have a different value, you're waiting for the time (as returned by Nano) to change.
As for all pseudo-random libraries, you have to set the seed only once, for example when initializing your program unless you specifically need to reproduce a given sequence (which is usually only done for debugging and unit testing).
After that you simply call Intn to get the next random integer.
Move the rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano()) line from the randInt function to the start of the main and everything will be faster.
Note also that I think you can simplify your string building:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func main() {
rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
fmt.Println(randomString(10))
}
func randomString(l int) string {
bytes := make([]byte, l)
for i := 0; i < l; i++ {
bytes[i] = byte(randInt(65, 90))
}
return string(bytes)
}
func randInt(min int, max int) int {
return min + rand.Intn(max-min)
}
just to toss it out for posterity: it can sometimes be preferable to generate a random string using an initial character set string. This is useful if the string is supposed to be entered manually by a human; excluding 0, O, 1, and l can help reduce user error.
var alpha = "abcdefghijkmnpqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ23456789"
// generates a random string of fixed size
func srand(size int) string {
buf := make([]byte, size)
for i := 0; i < size; i++ {
buf[i] = alpha[rand.Intn(len(alpha))]
}
return string(buf)
}
and I typically set the seed inside of an init() block. They're documented here: http://golang.org/doc/effective_go.html#init
It's nano seconds, what are the chances of getting the same seed twice.
Anyway, thanks for the help, here is my end solution based on all the input.
package main
import (
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func init() {
rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
}
// generates a random string
func srand(min, max int, readable bool) string {
var length int
var char string
if min < max {
length = min + rand.Intn(max-min)
} else {
length = min
}
if readable == false {
char = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789"
} else {
char = "ABCDEFHJLMNQRTUVWXYZabcefghijkmnopqrtuvwxyz23479"
}
buf := make([]byte, length)
for i := 0; i < length; i++ {
buf[i] = char[rand.Intn(len(char)-1)]
}
return string(buf)
}
// For testing only
func main() {
println(srand(5, 5, true))
println(srand(5, 5, true))
println(srand(5, 5, true))
println(srand(5, 5, false))
println(srand(5, 7, true))
println(srand(5, 10, false))
println(srand(5, 50, true))
println(srand(5, 10, false))
println(srand(5, 50, true))
println(srand(5, 10, false))
println(srand(5, 50, true))
println(srand(5, 10, false))
println(srand(5, 50, true))
println(srand(5, 4, true))
println(srand(5, 400, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
println(srand(6, 5, true))
}
OK why so complex!
package main
import (
"fmt"
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func main() {
rand.Seed( time.Now().UnixNano())
var bytes int
for i:= 0 ; i < 10 ; i++{
bytes = rand.Intn(6)+1
fmt.Println(bytes)
}
//fmt.Println(time.Now().UnixNano())
}
This is based off the dystroy's code but fitted for my needs.
It's die six (rands ints 1 =< i =< 6)
func randomInt (min int , max int ) int {
var bytes int
bytes = min + rand.Intn(max)
return int(bytes)
}
The function above is the exactly same thing.
I hope this information was of use.
If your aim is just to generate a sting of random number then I think it's unnecessary to complicate it with multiple function calls or resetting seed every time.
The most important step is to call seed function just once before actually running rand.Init(x). Seed uses the provided seed value to initialize the default Source to a deterministic state. So, It would be suggested to call it once before the actual function call to pseudo-random number generator.
Here is a sample code creating a string of random numbers
package main
import (
"fmt"
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func main(){
rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
var s string
for i:=0;i<10;i++{
s+=fmt.Sprintf("%d ",rand.Intn(7))
}
fmt.Printf(s)
}
The reason I used Sprintf is because it allows simple string formatting.
Also, In rand.Intn(7) Intn returns, as an int, a non-negative pseudo-random number in [0,7).
I don't understand why people are seeding with a time value. This has in my experience never been a good idea. For example, while the system clock is maybe represented in nanoseconds, the system's clock precision isn't nanoseconds.
This program should not be run on the Go playground but if you run it on your machine you get a rough estimate on what type of precision you can expect. I see increments of about 1000000 ns, so 1 ms increments. That's 20 bits of entropy that are not used. All the while the high bits are mostly constant.
The degree that this matters to you will vary but you can avoid pitfalls of clock based seed values by simply using the crypto/rand.Read as source for your seed. It will give you that non-deterministic quality that you are probably looking for in your random numbers (even if the actual implementation itself is limited to a set of distinct and deterministic random sequences).
import (
crypto_rand "crypto/rand"
"encoding/binary"
math_rand "math/rand"
)
func init() {
var b [8]byte
_, err := crypto_rand.Read(b[:])
if err != nil {
panic("cannot seed math/rand package with cryptographically secure random number generator")
}
math_rand.Seed(int64(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(b[:])))
}
As a side note but in relation to your question. You can create your own rand.Source using this method to avoid the cost of having locks protecting the source. The rand package utility functions are convenient but they also use locks under the hood to prevent the source from being used concurrently. If you don't need that you can avoid it by creating your own Source and use that in a non-concurrent way. Regardless, you should NOT be reseeding your random number generator between iterations, it was never designed to be used that way.
Small update due to golang api change, please omit .UTC() :
time.Now().UTC().UnixNano() -> time.Now().UnixNano()
import (
"fmt"
"math/rand"
"time"
)
func main() {
rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
fmt.Println(randomInt(100, 1000))
}
func randInt(min int, max int) int {
return min + rand.Intn(max-min)
}