Random floating point numbers

https://dotat.at/@/2023-06-23-random-double.html

Here are a couple of algorithms for generating uniformly distributed floating point numbers 0.0 <= n < 1.0 using an unbiased random bit generator and IEEE 754 double precision arithmetic. Both of them depend on details of how floating point numbers work, so before getting into the algorithms I'll review IEEE 754.

The first algorithm uses bit hacking and type punning. The second uses a hexadecimal floating point literal. They are both fun and elegant in their own ways, but these days the second one is better.

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