rand() generating the same number – even with srand(time(NULL)) in my main!

Question

So, I'm trying to create a random vector (think geometry, not an expandable array), and every time I call my random vector function I get the same x value, though y and z are different.

int main () {
    srand ( (unsigned)time(NULL));
    Vector<double> a;
    a.randvec();
    cout << a << endl;
    return 0;
}

using the function

//random Vector
template <class T>
void Vector<T>::randvec()
{
    const int min=-10, max=10;
    int randx, randy, randz;

    const int bucket_size = RAND_MAX/(max-min);

    do randx = (rand()/bucket_size)+min;
    while (randx <= min && randx >= max);
    x = randx;

    do randy = (rand()/bucket_size)+min;
    while (randy <= min && randy >= max);
    y = randy;

    do randz = (rand()/bucket_size)+min;
    while (randz <= min && randz >= max);
    z = randz;
}

For some reason, randx will consistently return 8, whereas the other numbers seem to be following the (pseudo) randomness perfectly. However, if I put the call to define, say, randy before randx, randy will always return 8.

Why is my first random number always 8? Am I seeding incorrectly?

Answer 1

The issue is that the random number generator is being seeded with a values that are very close together - each run of the program only changes the return value of time() by a small amount - maybe 1 second, maybe even none! The rather poor standard random number generator then uses these similar seed values to generate apparently identical initial random numbers. Basically, you need a better initial seed generator than time() and a better random number generator than rand().

The actual looping algorithm used is I think lifted from Accelerated C++ and is intended to produce a better spread of numbers over the required range than say using the mod operator would. But it can't compensate for always being (effectively) given the same seed.