Algorithms For Dummies

Defining How Randomization Works

Randomization relies on the capability by your computer to generate random 

numbers, which means creating the number without a plan. Therefore, a random 

number is unpredictable, and as you generate subsequent random numbers, they 

shouldn’t relate to each other.

However, randomness is hard to achieve. Even when you throw dice, the result 

can’t be completely unexpected because of the way you hold the dice, the way you 

throw them, and the fact that the dice aren’t perfectly shaped. Computers aren’t 

good  at  creating  random  numbers,  either.  They  generate  randomness  by  using 

algorithms or pseudorandom tables (which work by using a seed value as a start-

ing  point,  a  number  equivalent  to  an  index)  because  a  computer  can’t  create  a 

truly random number. Computers are deterministic machines; everything inside 

them responds to a well-defined response pattern, which means that it imitates 

randomness in some way.