Using stdlib's rand() from multiple threads
srand() seeds the random number generator. You should only have to call srand(time(NULL))
once during startup.
That said, the documentation states:
The function
rand()
is not reentrant or thread-safe, since it uses hidden state that is modified on each call. This might just be the seed value to be used by the next call, or it might be something more elaborate. In order to get reproducible behaviour in a threaded application, this state must be made explicit. The functionrand_r()
is supplied with a pointer to anunsigned int
, to be used as state. This is a very small amount of state, so this function will be a weak pseudo-random generator. Trydrand48_r
(3) instead.
The emphasized part of the above is probably the reason why all your threads get the same number.
As you are using C++, rather than C, you may be able to avoid the threading problems often associated with srand/rand by using c++11. This depends on using a recent compiler which supports these features. You would use a separate engine and distribution on each thread. The example acts like a dice.
#include <random>
#include <functional>
std::uniform_int_distribution<int> dice_distribution(1, 6);
std::mt19937 random_number_engine; // pseudorandom number generator
auto dice_roller = std::bind(dice_distribution, random_number_engine);
int random_roll = dice_roller(); // Generate one of the integers 1,2,3,4,5,6.
I referred to Wikipedia C++11 and Boost random when answering this question.