Random Number Within a Given Range
# What
Returning rand() % N
does not uniformly give a number in the range [0, N)
# How
#include <stdlib.h> // For random(), RAND_MAX
// Assumes 0 <= max <= RAND_MAX
// Returns in the closed interval [0, max]
long random_at_most(long max) {
unsigned long
// max <= RAND_MAX < ULONG_MAX, so this is okay.
num_bins = (unsigned long) max + 1,
num_rand = (unsigned long) RAND_MAX + 1,
bin_size = num_rand / num_bins,
defect = num_rand % num_bins;
long x;
do {
x = random();
}
// This is carefully written not to overflow
while (num_rand - defect <= (unsigned long)x);
// Truncated division is intentional
return x/bin_size;
}