Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-12 Thread Tom Lane
=?utf-8?Q?Dagfinn_Ilmari_Manns=C3=A5ker?= writes: > Dean Rasheed writes: >> I think it'd be sufficient to just say that it's a deterministic >> pseudorandom number generator. I don't see much value in documenting >> the internal algorithm used. > WFM on both points. Sold then, I'll make it so.

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-12 Thread Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker
Dean Rasheed writes: > On Mon, 11 Apr 2022 at 20:20, Tom Lane wrote: >> >> >> How about we just say "uses a linear-feedback shift register algorithm"? > > I think it'd be sufficient to just say that it's a deterministic > pseudorandom number generator. I don't see much value in documenting >

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-12 Thread Tom Lane
Fabien COELHO writes: >>> How about we just say "uses a linear-feedback shift register algorithm"? >> I think it'd be sufficient to just say that it's a deterministic >> pseudorandom number generator. I don't see much value in documenting >> the internal algorithm used. > Hmmm… I'm not so sure.

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-12 Thread Fabien COELHO
How about we just say "uses a linear-feedback shift register algorithm"? I think it'd be sufficient to just say that it's a deterministic pseudorandom number generator. I don't see much value in documenting the internal algorithm used. Hmmm… I'm not so sure. ISTM that people interested in

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-11 Thread Dean Rasheed
On Mon, 11 Apr 2022 at 20:20, Tom Lane wrote: > > >> How about we just say "uses a linear-feedback shift register algorithm"? I think it'd be sufficient to just say that it's a deterministic pseudorandom number generator. I don't see much value in documenting the internal algorithm used. > >

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-11 Thread Tom Lane
=?utf-8?Q?Dagfinn_Ilmari_Manns=C3=A5ker?= writes: > Tom Lane writes: >> How about we just say "uses a linear-feedback shift register algorithm"? > That works for me. Nice and simple, and not overly specific. Should we > perhaps also add a warning that the same seed is not guaranteed to >

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-11 Thread Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker
Tom Lane writes: > =?utf-8?Q?Dagfinn_Ilmari_Manns=C3=A5ker?= writes: >> I just noticed that the since the random() rewrite¹, the documentation's >> claim² that it "uses a simple linear congruential algorithm" is no >> longer accurate (xoroshiro128** is an xorshift variant, which is a >>

Re: random() function documentation

2022-04-11 Thread Tom Lane
=?utf-8?Q?Dagfinn_Ilmari_Manns=C3=A5ker?= writes: > I just noticed that the since the random() rewrite¹, the documentation's > claim² that it "uses a simple linear congruential algorithm" is no > longer accurate (xoroshiro128** is an xorshift variant, which is a > linear-feedback shift register

random() function documentation

2022-04-11 Thread Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker
Hi Hackers, I just noticed that the since the random() rewrite¹, the documentation's claim² that it "uses a simple linear congruential algorithm" is no longer accurate (xoroshiro128** is an xorshift variant, which is a linear-feedback shift register algorithm). I don't have a suggestion for the