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Talk:Probabilistic choice: Difference between revisions
→"Random" vs. "Pseudorandom"
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== "Random" vs. "Pseudorandom" ==
Not one solution on this page (at least among those that I have been able to read; I admit that J, for example, reads like Greek to me) uses actual random <span style="color:blue"><s>numbers</s><u>number generation</u></span>. They all use pseudorandom <span style="color:blue"><s>numbers</s><u>number generation</u></span> of one stripe or another. This distinction is more important than ever with the advent of '''actual''' random <span style="color:blue"><s>number</s><u>number generation</u></span> services online (Random.org, LavaRnd, and HotBits, among others), one might reasonably take the task specification literally and mark every solution as incorrect. What I have done instead is to change the text of the task from "generate a million items ''randomly'' subject to" into "generate a million items ''randomly'' (or, more likely, ''pseudorandomly'') subject to". I think this clarification makes things "right". Thoughts? --[[User:Balrog|Balrog]] 17:25, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
:The distinction you make doesn't seem to me to merit making as random is commonly used to include pseudo-random unless the difference matters.
:The task shouldn't distinguish between - and still, with your changes, doesn't distinguish between the use of random and pseudo-random numbers. As you have noted by the uniformity of the results, the task description was adequate for those authors of the ~30 existing language solutions. I don't think it would hinder your submission of another languages solution. --[[User:Paddy3118|Paddy3118]] 18:15, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
::"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin." -John von Neumann :-) In any case, I pointed out above why I thought the difference matters. --[[User:Balrog|Balrog]] 20:06, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
:So, ok, my thought was: is 1 a random number? --[[User:Rdm|Rdm]] 18:00, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
::HA! Good one. No, I was of course not being precise enough in my speech, and you caught me. Randomness or pseudorandomness is a characteristic of number selection or number generation, not of numbers themselves. I have corrected my original comment. --[[User:Balrog|Balrog]] 20:06, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
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