using the old Wichmann-Hill generator, Also pointed to
a newer version of his generator, and weakened the claim
about what jumpahead() does now.
Note sure I got the LaTeX entirely correct for \seeurl.
If it's broken, please fix it ;-)
Bugfix candidate! (These changes make just as much
sense for 2.4.)
Renamed the new generator at Trevor's recommendation.
The name HardwareRandom suggested a bit more than it
delivered (no radioactive decay detectors or such).
* Added C coded getrandbits(k) method that runs in linear time.
* Call the new method from randrange() for ranges >= 2**53.
* Adds a warning for generators not defining getrandbits() whenever they
have a call to randrange() with too large of a population.
internal states. Put the old .seed() (which could only get at about
the square root of the # of possibilities) under the new name .whseed(),
for bit-level compatibility with older versions. This occurred to me
while reviewing effbot's book (he found himself stumbling over .seed()
more than once there ...).
got broken). Also added new method .jumpahead(N). This finally gives us
a semi-decent answer to how Python's RNGs can be used safely and efficiently
in multithreaded programs (although it requires the user to use the new
machinery!).
functionality of, whrandom.py. Also closes all the "XXX" todos in
random.py. New frequently-requested functions/methods getstate() and
setstate(). All exported functions are now bound methods of a hidden
instance. Killed all unintended exports. Updated the docs.
FRED: The more I fiddle the docs, the less I understand the exact
intended use of the \var, \code, \method tags. Please review critically.
GUIDO: See email. I updated NEWS as if whrandom were deprecated; I
think it should be.
