This is my first bug report(ever), so feel free to point out how I could
do a better job of this...
Anyways I have found a bug with the mersenne_twister random number
generator class, where results when calling for a random number vary
between codewarrior 9.0 and gcc 3.4.1 with boost 1.31.0.
A simple example is shown below:
#include // for mt11213b
typedef boost::mt11213b base_generator_type;
class foo
{
public:
foo(const base_generator_type gen):m_gen(gen)
{}
~foo(void) {}
rand_type operator() ( void )
{
const float x = m_gen();
return x;
}
private:
base_generator_type m_gen;
}
int main(void)
{
base_generator_type gen( (uint32_t) 2000); seed is not important
foo f(gen);
cout << "Random result is " << f() << endl;
}
The resulting numbers will be different between codewarrior 9.0 running
on windows and gcc 3.4.1 running on Suse linux 7.3.(Hope that is enough
info).
I tracked the cause of the bug down to class initialization. In the case
of CW9.0, the compiler when constructing a foo, will use a
mersenne_twister copy ctor when initializing m_gen, while in the case of
gcc 3.4.1 it will choose the following in the .hpp file
template<class Generator>
explicit mersenne_twister(Generator & gen) { seed(gen); }
therefore using the provided generator as a seed to the new generator
rather than just copying its state, even though no template parameter is
provided.
Anyways I will leave it up to the more informed to decide which is more
desirable/proper; however, this is a fairly nasty bug at the moment as