25 lines
1.3 KiB
Text
25 lines
1.3 KiB
Text
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At the suggestion of Linas Vepstas on the Gnu Scientific Library (GSL) list,
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this GPL'd suite of random number tests will be named "Dieharder". Using a
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movie sequel pun for the name is a double tribute to George Marsaglia, whose
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"Diehard battery of tests" of random number generators has enjoyed years of
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enduring usefulness as a test suite.
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The dieharder suite is more than just the diehard tests cleaned up and given a
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pretty GPL'd source face in native C: tests from the Statistical Test Suite
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(STS) developed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)
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are being incorporated, as are new tests developed by rgb. Where possible,
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tests are parametrized and controllable so that failure, at least, is
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unambiguous.
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A further design goal is to provide some indication of *why* a generator fails
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a test, where such information can be extracted during the test process and
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placed in usable form. For example, the bit-distribution tests should
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(eventually) be able to display the actual histogram for the different bit
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n-tuplets.
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Dieharder is by design extensible. It is intended to be the "Swiss army knife
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of random number test suites", or if you prefer, "the last suite you'll ever
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ware" for testing random numbers.
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WWW: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/General/dieharder.php
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