Randomness

A typical computer user of the 2010s will also encounter randomness when playing certain computer games. Certainly, randomness will be used when playing card games such as poker or solitaire, to shuffle the deck, and in arranging jewels and tiles in casual games. Randomness may also be used to determine the behavior of computer opponents, whether one is playing poker or chess. And some action, arcade-style, open-world and other games incorporate randomness in other ways as they determine what happens. Many early games and certain contemporary ones are entirely deterministic, however. As the discoverers and exploiters of <i>Pac-Man</i> patterns know, that game is deterministic; <i>Ms. Pac-Man,</i> in contrast, did use randomness.

A typical computer user of the 2010s will also encounter randomness when playing certain computer games. Certainly, randomness will be used when playing card games such as poker or solitaire, to shuffle the deck, and in arranging jewels and tiles in casual games. Randomness may also be used to determine the behavior of computer opponents, whether one is playing poker or chess. And some action, arcade-style, open-world and other games incorporate randomness in other ways as they determine what happens. Many early games and certain contemporary ones are entirely deterministic, however. As the discoverers and exploiters of <i>Pac-Man</i> patterns know, that game is deterministic; <i>Ms. Pac-Man,</i> in contrast, did use randomness.

The way that 10 PRINT invokes the randomness provided by the Commodore 64 is of interest for a few reasons which will each be explored in turn. First, using randomness is aesthetically necessary in this program; there is no other way to achieve a similar effect. Second, the methods used in Commodore 64 BASIC are historically quite typical of computational approaches to pseudo-randomness since the 1950s. Finally, out of several common approaches to randomness available on the C64, 10 PRINT uses a very standard method that is well-suited to experimentation, debugging, and the production of canonical results.

The way that 10 PRINT invokes the randomness provided by the Commodore 64 is of interest for a few reasons which will each be explored in turn. First, using randomness is aesthetically necessary in this program; there is no other way to achieve a similar effect. Second, the methods used in Commodore 64 BASIC are historically quite typical of computational approaches to pseudo-randomness since the 1950s. Finally, out of several common approaches to randomness available on the C64, 10 PRINT uses a very standard method that is well-suited to experimentation, debugging, and the production of canonical results.