Why Does My rand() Function Return Identical Values Within a Single Function Call?

Random Function Returning Identical Values within a Function

You encounter an issue where the rand() function generates the same values when called within a single function. To resolve this problem, let's delve deeper into the issue and explore the solution.

Understanding the Issue

The function PullOne() utilizes the std::srand(time(0)) function to initialize the random number generator. This initialization assigns a seed value based on the current time. However, by calling srand() within the function, you effectively reset the random number generator each time the function is called. This results in the same sequence of random numbers being produced.

Solution

To generate truly random values within PullOne(), you should initialize the random number generator only once, prior to any of the function calls. This ensures that the function generates a unique sequence of random numbers each time it is called.

To achieve this, you can modify your code as follows:

// Initializing the random number generator
std::srand(time(0));

string PullOne()
{
    string pick;
    string choices[3] = {"BAR", "7", "cherries"};

    pick = choices[(std::rand() % 3)];
    return pick;
}

By initializing srand() outside of PullOne(), you ensure that it is called only once and the random number generator is properly seeded. This modification ensures that each call to PullOne() produces a truly random result, making pull_1, pull_2, and pull_3 distinct values.

The above is the detailed content of Why Does My rand() Function Return Identical Values Within a Single Function Call?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!