1. Hasard project
    2. Features
    3. Download
    4. News
    5. Usage example
    6. Documentation
    7. Tests
    8. Hardware entropy generators
    9. Download entropy from websites
    10. Test RNG quality
    11. Similar projects
    12. Random links

Hasard project

Hasard is a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) library. It includes multiple engines (algorithms): Park-Miller, Mersenne Twister, Linux device (/dev/urandom or /dev/random), ... It has simple API but with strong code, eg. PRNG seed can be generated using strong entropy (hardware random number generator like /dev/random on Linux).

The library is written in C and a Python binding is available. The library is distributed under BSD license.

The word "hasard" is the french name of "randomness" or "chance".

Features

  • Simple functions to get integer, float or boolean with the best distribution
  • Support many engines: Mersenne Twister, ISAAC, Arcfour, ... (full list)
  • No need to feed the initial seed with poor entropy (eg. srand(time(0))
  • Functions to control the seed: jumpahead, get/set seed, get/set state and reseed
  • Informations about the PRNG: min/max period, does it support reseed, seed or state?
  • BSD license for easy integration in other libraries and programs
  • Quality tests: test entropy, compute PRNG period, unit tests
  • Attack tests: programs to find collisions, break a LCG
  • Tools: programs to create images to "view" the random, plain text file format used by most test programs

Download

Stable version:

  • hasard-0.5.0.tar.bz2
  • MD5: 8308ee7bb8daeabd8c33e0fee64ab6a1
  • SHA-1: 9f1093f7d2642efd04b36fb7e77169b885865fd0

Download development version using Mercurial: 

hg clone http://haypo.hachoir.org/hasard

You can also browse the source code.

Version 0.5.0 works on Linux i386, Linux x86_64, Linux ppc and FreeBSD i386.

News

Hasard 0.5 (2008-07-11):

  • Hasard is now thread safe: create locking callbacks
  • Create random profiles: @fast, @secure, @hardware and @test
  • Rewrite hasard_engine_int() and hasard_engine_ulong() to support 64 bits CPU: now use GMP library
  • Create function hasard_uuid()
  • Support FreeBSD, and partial support of Windows
  • Switch to CMake build system

Hasard 0.4 (2008-06-17):

  • Write get/set seed, reseed and get/set state functions
  • hasard_double() now requires a range [min; max]
  • New engines: Arcfour (RC4) and Middle-Square
  • Add minimum/maximum period to the engine metadata
  • Write many more tests
  • Bugfixes for AMD64

Read also the ChangeLog.

Usage example

#include <hasard.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
   struct hasard_t *rnd;
   rnd = hasard_new(HASARD_FAST);

   printf("Heads or Tails? %s!\n", hasard_bool(rnd)?"Heads":"Tails");
   printf("Dice: %i\n", hasard_int(rnd, 1, 6));
   printf("Integer in 0..999: %u\n", hasard_ulong(rnd, 0, 999));
   printf("Float in [0.0; 1.0]: %.3f\n", hasard_double(rnd));

   hasard_destroy(rnd);
   return 0;
}

Compile it with "gcc example.c -o example -lhasard".

You don't have to initialize the random generator seed like the common srand(time(NULL)): this task is done by hasard_new().

Documentation

Browse doc/ directory.

Tests

Park-Miller double() in 400x400 pixels

  • Test entropy: tests/test_entropy.py
  • Use ENT program: tests/ent.py
  • Benchmark: benchmark.c
  • Manual visual check: tests/gnuplot.py

Picture at the right is an image generated using Park-Miller engine. As you can see, it's not really very random...

Hardware entropy generators

Hardware:

Daemons:

  • EGD: Entropy Gathering Daemon
  • PRNGD: Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon
  • aed: an "additional entropy" daemon for Linux

Other:

Download entropy from websites

Test RNG quality

Programs:

Documents:

Other:

Similar projects