bellrand.c

C

Public Domain

Randomly generate a number with a normal distribution

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bellcurve C math normalCurve normalDistribution random standardDistribution 
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#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>

/* Uses the polar form of the Box-Muller transform to generate
 * a random number with the given mean & standard deviation.
 *
 * Note that this uses the common yet nonstandard function random().
 *
 * Be sure to call srandom() beforehand!
 */

double bellrand(double mean, double stddev) {
 double u, v, r;
 do {
  u = (random() % 1001) / 1000.0 * 2.0 - 1.0;
  v = (random() % 1001) / 1000.0 * 2.0 - 1.0;
  r = u*u + v*v;
 } while (r == 0.0 || r >= 1.0);
 return mean + stddev * u * sqrt(-2 * log(r) / r);
}