Re: [Boost-users] Newbie question: Random numbers.

admin@geocodenet.com wrote:

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Well, that's why one would typically combine as many entropy sources as possible using a hash function (MD5, SHA, even boost::hash if 32 bits are enough.) :-)

For more demanding uses there's always CryptGenRandom, or RtlGenRandom on XP+. On VC 8.0 there's also rand_s.

How about Mersenne Twister by math profs at Hiroshima U.: http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~m-mat/MT/emt.html

You have to seed the Mersenne Twister with something, which is what this portion of the thread is about; a good source of entropy to obtain a seed from.