So I am currently learning C, and I have some confusion about how the random() function works.
I know I have to provide a seed, but I don't know how to actually generate the random number.
srandom(seed);
long int value= random(40);
When I try this it gives me a compiler error:
too many arguments to function ‘long int random()
The end goal is to get a random number between 1 and 40.
I should add that the goal is to not use the rand() function.
The answer to your question is precisely answered by the compiler. You are passing '40' to the function random() which it is not supposed to receive.
The signature for random() is:
long int random (void)
void keyword here is indicator that the function in hand is not supposed to receive anything.
Here's an example program to generate 6 random numbers.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
int num;
int max = 5;
for (int c = 0; c <= max; c++){
num = random();
printf("%d\n",num);
}
return 0;
}
Output:
fire-trail@Sahai-Yantra:~$ gcc try.c
fire-trail@Sahai-Yantra:~$ ./a.out
1804289383
846930886
1681692777
1714636915
1957747793
424238335
To reach your end goal of generating random numbers within a given range using random(), see How to generate a random number from within a range.
random() so it appears in constant-width font, but those are second-order refinements.The answer is right there in the error thrown by the compiler
too many arguments to function ‘long int random()
Change random(40) to random()
srand()before each call torand(). Call it once at the start of the program. I do not know why you renamed those library functions. What are they? How can we know what they do? Are they non-standard functions or your own?random()— it tells you a lot of what to do. For the rest, read Is this C implementation of Fisher-Yates shuffle correct? to see how to generate an unbiassed random number in the range 0..N (for 1..40, you'll use a random number in the range 0..39 and add 1).