[erlang-questions] On OTP rand module difference between OTP 19 and OTP 20

[Raimo Niskanen]

On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 10:34:16AM +1200, Richard A. O'Keefe wrote:
> 
> 
> On 30/08/17 6:42 PM, Raimo Niskanen wrote:
> > On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 11:44:57AM +1200, Richard A. O'Keefe wrote:
> 
> >> There are applications of random numbers for which it is important
> >> that 0 never be returned.  Of course, nothing stops me writing
> >
> > What kind of applications?  I would like to get a grip on how needed this
> > function is?
> 
> I'll give you just one example.  There are two ways I know to generate
> normally distributed random numbers.  One of them goes like this:
> 
>      sqrt(-2 * ln(randnz()) * cos(pi * random())
> 
> where random() is in [0,1) but randnz() must be in (0,1).
> 
> OK, I'll give you another example.  This is part of an algorithm for
> generating gamma variates, one of the best known.
> 
>      U <- random()
>      if U <= r then
>          z <- -ln(U/r)
>      else
>          z <- ln(random()/lambda)
>      end
> 
> You will notice that both of the calls to ln will go wrong if
> random() can return 0.
> 
> These aren't the only examples, but I have an appointment.

Thank you!

Should I make a pull request of this?

    https://github.com/erlang/otp/compare/OTP-20.0...RaimoNiskanen:raimo/stdlib/rand-uniformNZ

Is the name uniformNZ good enough?
Are uniform floats complete enough with this addition?

-- 

/ Raimo Niskanen, Erlang/OTP, Ericsson AB