Randomness
From Maze
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| − | An essential element of 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1));: GOTO 10 is randomness; the program could not have anything like the same effect without it. The program uses randomness that is built in to the Commodore 64's BASIC programming language via the RND function. And the RND function is not special to the Commodore 64; it was present in the original Dartmouth BASIC. Furthermore, it's not just Commodore 64 BASIC that supplies random numbers. There are capabilities for generating random numbers that are provided by the built-in operting system, the KERNAL (the source of randomness that is used by BASIC) and by the sound chip, the SID. It's randomness all the way down. Producing randomness is a standard capability of the Commodore 64, provided by several different techniques. Randomness is just as important to other forms of modern computing. | + | An essential element of 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1));: GOTO 10 is randomness; the program could not have anything like the same effect without it. The program uses randomness that is built in to the Commodore 64's BASIC programming language via the RND function. And the RND function is not special to the Commodore 64; it was present in the original Dartmouth BASIC. Furthermore, it's not just Commodore 64 BASIC that supplies random numbers. There are capabilities for generating random numbers that are provided by the built-in operating system, the KERNAL (the source of randomness that is used by BASIC) and by the sound chip, the SID. It's randomness all the way down. Producing randomness is a standard capability of the Commodore 64, provided by several different techniques. Randomness is just as important to other forms of modern computing. |
This chapter explains what random numbers are, differentiating different types of randomness. Then, it looks at the historical inception of functions for generating random numbers and some of randomness's uses. Some questions that are considered include: Does carefully applied randomness help everything run smoothly? Does the extension of random methods into the home through home computing and its accompanying literacy campaign constitute a defeat of the unpredictable? How and why is randomness used in the arts? This chapter scrutinizes the meaning of randomness beginning with its entrance into our language, following its introduction into everyday language through the fields of science and art. Finally, the chapter discusses the inversion of the meaning of randomness from unknown into mundane. This demonstrates that the maze pattern which emerges from 10 PRINT is not merely an artifact of its random process, but a confluence of the randomness with other structural elements, such as the terminal. | This chapter explains what random numbers are, differentiating different types of randomness. Then, it looks at the historical inception of functions for generating random numbers and some of randomness's uses. Some questions that are considered include: Does carefully applied randomness help everything run smoothly? Does the extension of random methods into the home through home computing and its accompanying literacy campaign constitute a defeat of the unpredictable? How and why is randomness used in the arts? This chapter scrutinizes the meaning of randomness beginning with its entrance into our language, following its introduction into everyday language through the fields of science and art. Finally, the chapter discusses the inversion of the meaning of randomness from unknown into mundane. This demonstrates that the maze pattern which emerges from 10 PRINT is not merely an artifact of its random process, but a confluence of the randomness with other structural elements, such as the terminal. | ||
