A simple question on random number generation?

Question

Hi,
This is a rather simple question and shows my newbieness quite blatantly!
I'm trying to generate a random number in a part of a test I have.
So, I have a little method which looks like this:
public int getRandomNumber(int number){
        Random random = new Random(number);
        return random.nextInt(number);
    }And in my code I do int random = getRandomNumber(blah)...where blah is always the same number.
My problem is it always returns the same number. What am I missing here. I was under the impression that nextint(int n) was supposed to generate the number randomly!! Obviously I'm doing something wrong or not using the correct thing. Someone please point out my stupidity and point me in the right direction? Ta

Answer 1

I think the idea is that Random will generate the same pseudo-random sequence over and over if you don't supply a seed value. (The better to debug with, my dear.) When you're ready to put an app into production, the seed value should be the current system time in milliseconds to guarantee a new sequence with each run.
Do indeed move Random outside the loop. Think of it like a number factory - instantiate it once and let it pump out the random values for you as needed.