class Random

Random provides an interface to Ruby’s pseudo-random number generator, or PRNG. The PRNG produces a deterministic sequence of bits which approximate true randomness. The sequence may be represented by integers, floats, or binary strings.

The generator may be initialized with either a system-generated or user-supplied seed value by using Random.srand.

The class method Random.rand provides the base functionality of Kernel.rand along with better handling of floating point values. These are both interfaces to the Ruby system PRNG.

Random.new will create a new PRNG with a state independent of the Ruby system PRNG, allowing multiple generators with different seed values or sequence positions to exist simultaneously. Random objects can be marshaled, allowing sequences to be saved and resumed.

PRNGs are currently implemented as a modified Mersenne Twister with a period of 2**19937-1. As this algorithm is not for cryptographical use, you must use SecureRandom for security purpose, instead of this PRNG.

See also Random::Formatter module that adds convenience methods to generate various forms of random data.