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randn

Create a readable stream for generating pseudorandom numbers drawn from a standard normal distribution.

Installation

npm install @stdlib/random-streams-randn

Alternatively,

To load the package in a website via a script tag without installation and bundlers, use the ES Module available on the esm branch (see README).
If you are using Deno, visit the deno branch (see README for usage intructions).
For use in Observable, or in browser/node environments, use the Universal Module Definition (UMD) build available on the umd branch (see README).
To use as a general utility for the command line, install the corresponding CLI package globally.

The branches.md file summarizes the available branches and displays a diagram illustrating their relationships.

To view installation and usage instructions specific to each branch build, be sure to explicitly navigate to the respective README files on each branch, as linked to above.

Usage

var randomStream = require( '@stdlib/random-streams-randn' );

randomStream( [options] )

Returns a readable stream for generating pseudorandom numbers drawn from a standard normal distribution.

var inspectStream = require( '@stdlib/streams-node-inspect-sink' );

var iStream;
var stream;

function log( chunk, idx ) {
    console.log( chunk.toString() );
    if ( idx === 10 ) {
        stream.destroy();
    }
}

stream = randomStream();
iStream = inspectStream( log );

stream.pipe( iStream );

The function accepts the following options:

objectMode: specifies whether a stream should operate in objectMode. Default: false.
encoding: specifies how Buffer objects should be decoded to strings. Default: null.
highWaterMark: specifies the maximum number of bytes to store in an internal buffer before ceasing to generate additional pseudorandom numbers.
sep: separator used to join streamed data. This option is only applicable when a stream is not in objectMode. Default: '\n'.
iter: number of iterations.
name: name of a supported pseudorandom number generator (PRNG), which will serve as the underlying source of pseudorandom numbers. The following PRNGs are supported:
- improved-ziggurat: improved ziggurat method.
- box-muller: Box-Muller transform.
Default: 'improved-ziggurat'.
prng: pseudorandom number generator for generating uniformly distributed pseudorandom numbers on the interval [0,1). If provided, the function ignores both the state and seed options. In order to seed the returned iterator, one must seed the provided prng (assuming the provided prng is seedable).
seed: pseudorandom number generator seed.
state: a Uint32Array containing pseudorandom number generator state. If provided, the function ignores the seed option.
copy: boolean indicating whether to copy a provided pseudorandom number generator state. Setting this option to false allows sharing state between two or more pseudorandom number generators and/or streams. Setting this option to true ensures that a stream generator has exclusive control over its internal state. Default: true.
siter: number of iterations after which to emit the pseudorandom number generator state. This option is useful when wanting to deterministically capture a stream's underlying PRNG state. Default: 1e308.

To set stream options,

var opts = {
    'objectMode': true,
    'encoding': 'utf8',
    'highWaterMark': 64
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );

By default, the function returns a stream which can generate an infinite number of values (i.e., the stream will never end). To limit the number of generated pseudorandom numbers, set the iter option.

var inspectStream = require( '@stdlib/streams-node-inspect-sink' );

function log( chunk ) {
    console.log( chunk.toString() );
}

var opts = {
    'iter': 10
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );
var iStream = inspectStream( log );

stream.pipe( iStream );

By default, when not operating in objectMode, a returned stream delineates generated pseudorandom numbers using a newline character. To specify an alternative separator, set the sep option.

var inspectStream = require( '@stdlib/streams-node-inspect-sink' );

function log( chunk ) {
    console.log( chunk.toString() );
}

var opts = {
    'iter': 10,
    'sep': ','
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );
var iStream = inspectStream( log );

stream.pipe( iStream );

By default, the underlying pseudorandom number generator is improved-ziggurat. To use a different PRNG, set the name option.

var opts = {
    'name': 'box-muller'
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );

To use a custom PRNG as the underlying source of uniformly distributed pseudorandom numbers, set the prng option.

var minstd = require( '@stdlib/random-base-minstd' );

var opts = {
    'prng': minstd.normalized
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );

To seed the underlying pseudorandom number generator, set the seed option.

var inspectStream = require( '@stdlib/streams-node-inspect-sink' );

function log( v ) {
    console.log( v );
}

var opts = {
    'name': 'improved-ziggurat',
    'objectMode': true,
    'iter': 10,
    'seed': 1234
};

var stream = randomStream( opts );

opts = {
    'objectMode': true
};
var iStream = inspectStream( opts, log );

stream.pipe( iStream );

To return a readable stream with an underlying pseudorandom number generator having a specific initial state, set the state option.

var inspectStream = require( '@stdlib/streams-node-inspect-sink' );

function log( v ) {
    console.log( v );
}

var opts1 = {
    'name': 'improved-ziggurat',
    'objectMode': true,
    'iter': 10
};

var stream = randomStream( opts1 );

var opts2 = {
    'objectMode': true
};
var iStream = inspectStream( opts2, log );

// Stream pseudorandom numbers, thus progressing the underlying generator state:
stream.pipe( iStream );

// Create a new PRNG stream initialized to the last state of the previous stream:
var opts3 = {
    'name': 'improved-ziggurat',
    'objectMode': true,
    'iter': 10,
    'state': stream.state
};

stream = randomStream( opts3 );
iStream = inspectStream( opts2, log );

// Stream pseudorandom numbers starting from the last state of the previous stream:
stream.pipe( iStream );