3.15 Random Values

Generating Random Numbers

Many coding languages provide a way to generate random numbers, and College Board's Pseudocode is no exception. It's a good tool for many programs.

Here's what the random generator looks like in Pseudocode:

...and here's its equivalent in Python: 

import random
c = random.randint(a,b)

Notice how you have to import the random module into your program in order to gain access to the random generator. 

The Python example above will generate a random integer from a to b, inclusive. For example, c = random.randint(0,5) could result in the value of c being 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. 

Using random number generation in a program means that we might get a different result every time we run the program.

One example where random value generators come into handy is in simulations, which we'll discuss in Topic 3.16.