Re: [Boost-Users] Re: help with mersenne_twister

From: Jon Agiato (JonAgiato_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-03-18 09:22:11

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: scleary_at_[hidden] 
  To: Boost-Users_at_[hidden] 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 8:23 AM
  Subject: RE: [Boost-Users] Re: help with mersenne_twister

  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: Jon Agiato [mailto:JonAgiato_at_[hidden]]
  > 
  >   What other deterministic random number generators does 
  > boost offer, and can I use them in the same fashion as 
  > mt19937 as far as object instantiation?

  Linear congruential and lagged Fibonacci.  All RNGs in Boost.Random follow
  the same interface, given by the RNG concept documentation in
  libs\random\random-concepts.html
  Hello Steve,
  Thanks again for all the help!  I was looking through random-generators.html and see that there are in addition to the Mersenne Twister, Linear Congruential, and Lagged Fibonacci, five others: const_mod, additive_combined, shuffle_output, rand48, and inversive_congruential.  I am assuming these are all good RNGs to use for comparison, am I wrong?

  >   And lastly (don't want to wear out my welcome.. lol), do 
  > you think there would be any benefit to using the advanced 
  > RNG classes in my research?

  Actually, I think it might be a good idea to do so for your project.  The
  specializations provided by Boost.Random are well-known RNGs that have been
  published in research papers and used extensively.  There are undoubtedly
  many other good specializations out there, but few are used (mainly because
  it is very hard to define what a "good RNG" is).

  Anyway, what I was thinking is that you might make some of your own
  specializations that are known to be bad RNGs, and discuss why they are bad.
  Here is where my knowledge about RNGs end; I'm sure that there are known bad
  RNGs, but I don't know what they are.

        -Steve

  That's a great idea Steve, thanks!  I am rather new to RNG research but agree that a comparison of sorts would be good.  Could you or anyone here provide assistance, perhaps a short example on how one would use one of the advanced RNGs Boost provides?  I use Boost a lot, and think that one of the things it could really benefit from is more in depth documentation, especially for those of us struggling to utilize the library as quickly as possible.  Then again, I know that 1_30_0 should be out soon, so these developers have enough to do on their plates.

  In any case, thanks for the help Steve, it is appreciated greatly.  Best wishes.

  Jon Agiato
  JonAgiato_at_[hidden]

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