/*
* This file is part of JGAP.
*
* JGAP offers a dual license model containing the LGPL as well as the MPL.
*
* For licensing information please see the file license.txt included with JGAP
* or have a look at the top of class org.jgap.Chromosome which representatively
* includes the JGAP license policy applicable for any file delivered with JGAP.
*/
package org.jgap;
import java.io.*;
/**
* The RandomGenerator interface provides an abstraction for the random
* number implementation so that more rigorous or alternative implementations
* can be provided as desired.
* <p>
* ATTENTION: nextDouble should only return values betwen 0 (inclusive)
* and 1 (exclusive!). The same holds for nextFloat.
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @author Klaus Meffert
* @since 1.0
*/
public interface RandomGenerator
extends Serializable {
/** String containing the CVS revision. Read out via reflection!*/
final static String CVS_REVISION = "$Revision: 1.8 $";
/**
* Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value
* from this random number generator's sequence. The general contract
* of nextInt is that one int value is pseudorandomly generated and
* returned. All 2^32 possible int values are produced with
* (approximately) equal probability.
*
* @return a pseudorandom integer value
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public int nextInt();
/**
* Returns a pseudorandom, uniformly distributed int value between
* 0 (inclusive) and the specified value (exclusive), drawn from this
* random number generator's sequence. The general contract of nextInt
* is that one int value in the specified range is pseudorandomly
* generated and returned. All n possible int values are produced with
* (approximately) equal probability.
* @param a_ceiling the upper boundary excluded
*
* @return a pseudorandom integer value between 0 and the given
* ceiling - 1, inclusive
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public int nextInt(int a_ceiling);
/**
* Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed long value from
* this random number generator's sequence. The general contract of
* nextLong() is that one long value is pseudorandomly generated and
* returned. All 2^64 possible long values are produced with
* (approximately) equal probability.
*
* @return a psuedorandom long value
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public long nextLong();
/**
* Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed double value
* between 0.0 and 1.0 from this random number generator's sequence.
*
* @return a psuedorandom double value GREATER/EQUAL 0 AND LESS THAN 1
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public double nextDouble();
/**
* Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed float value
* between 0.0 and 1.0 from this random number generator's sequence.
*
* @return a psuedorandom float value
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public float nextFloat();
/**
* Returns the next pseudorandom, uniformly distributed boolean value
* from this random number generator's sequence. The general contract
* of nextBoolean is that one boolean value is pseudorandomly generated
* and returned. The values true and false are produced with
* (approximately) equal probability.
*
* @return a pseudorandom boolean value
*
* @author Neil Rotstan
* @since 1.0
*/
public boolean nextBoolean();
}