给定一个生成1到5rand5()范围内随机整数的函数，编写一个生成1到7rand7()范围内随机整数的函数

在我建议的解决方案中，我只调用rand5一次

真正的解决方案

float rand7()
{
    return (rand5() * 7.0) / 5.0 ;
}

这里的分布是缩放的，所以它直接取决于rand5的分布

整数解

int rand7()
{
    static int prev = 1;

    int cur = rand5();

    int r = cur * prev; // 1-25

    float f = r / 4.0; // 0.25-6.25

    f = f - 0.25; // 0-6

    f = f + 1.0; // 1-7

    prev = cur;

    return (int)f;
}

这里的分布取决于rand7(i) ~ rand5(i) * rand5(i-1)

rand7(0) ~ rand5(0) * 1

首先，我在1点上移动ramdom5() 6次，得到7个随机数。 其次，将7个数相加得到公和。 第三，除法的余数是7。 最后加1，得到从1到7的结果。 这个方法给出了在1到7的范围内获得数字的相等概率，除了1。1的概率略高。

public int random7(){
    Random random = new Random();
    //function (1 + random.nextInt(5)) is given
    int random1_5 = 1 + random.nextInt(5); // 1,2,3,4,5
    int random2_6 = 2 + random.nextInt(5); // 2,3,4,5,6
    int random3_7 = 3 + random.nextInt(5); // 3,4,5,6,7
    int random4_8 = 4 + random.nextInt(5); // 4,5,6,7,8
    int random5_9 = 5 + random.nextInt(5); // 5,6,7,8,9
    int random6_10 = 6 + random.nextInt(5); //6,7,8,9,10
    int random7_11 = 7 + random.nextInt(5); //7,8,9,10,11

    //sumOfRandoms is between 28 and 56
    int sumOfRandoms = random1_5 + random2_6 + random3_7 + 
                       random4_8 + random5_9 + random6_10 + random7_11;
    //result is number between 0 and 6, and
    //equals 0 if sumOfRandoms = 28 or 35 or 42 or 49 or 56 , 5 options
    //equals 1 if sumOfRandoms = 29 or 36 or 43 or 50, 4 options
    //equals 2 if sumOfRandoms = 30 or 37 or 44 or 51, 4 options
    //equals 3 if sumOfRandoms = 31 or 38 or 45 or 52, 4 options
    //equals 4 if sumOfRandoms = 32 or 39 or 46 or 53, 4 options
    //equals 5 if sumOfRandoms = 33 or 40 or 47 or 54, 4 options
    //equals 6 if sumOfRandoms = 34 or 41 or 48 or 55, 4 options
    //It means that the probabilities of getting numbers between 0 and 6 are almost equal.
    int result = sumOfRandoms % 7;
    //we should add 1 to move the interval [0,6] to the interval [1,7]
    return 1 + result;
}

(我剽窃了亚当·罗森菲尔德的答案，使其运行速度提高了7%左右。)

假设rand5()返回分布相等的{0,1,2,3,4}中的一个，目标是返回分布相等的{0,1,2,3,4,5,6}。

int rand7() {
  i = 5 * rand5() + rand5();
  max = 25;
  //i is uniform among {0 ... max-1}
  while(i < max%7) {
    //i is uniform among {0 ... (max%7 - 1)}
    i *= 5;
    i += rand5(); //i is uniform {0 ... (((max%7)*5) - 1)}
    max %= 7;
    max *= 5; //once again, i is uniform among {0 ... max-1}
  }
  return(i%7);
}

我们在跟踪这个循环在变量max中所能产生的最大值。如果到目前为止的结果在max%7和max-1之间，那么结果将均匀分布在该范围内。如果不是，则使用余数，余数是0到max%7-1之间的随机数，然后再次调用rand()来生成一个新的数字和一个新的max。然后我们重新开始。

编辑:在这个方程中，期望调用rand5()的次数是x:

x =  2     * 21/25
   + 3     *  4/25 * 14/20
   + 4     *  4/25 *  6/20 * 28/30
   + 5     *  4/25 *  6/20 *  2/30 * 7/10
   + 6     *  4/25 *  6/20 *  2/30 * 3/10 * 14/15
   + (6+x) *  4/25 *  6/20 *  2/30 * 3/10 *  1/15
x = about 2.21 calls to rand5()

简单高效:

int rand7 ( void )
{
    return 4; // this number has been calculated using
              // rand5() and is in the range 1..7
}

(灵感来自你最喜欢的“程序员”卡通?)

假设rand给予所有位相同的权重，然后用上界进行掩码。

int i = rand(5) ^ (rand(5) & 2);

Rand(5)只能返回:1b, 10b, 11b, 100b, 101b。有时候你只需要考虑设置2位。

function rand7() {
    while (true) { //lowest base 5 random number > 7 reduces memory
        int num = (rand5()-1)*5 + rand5()-1;
    if (num < 21)  // improves performance
        return 1 + num%7;
    }
}

Python代码:

from random import randint
def rand7():
    while(True):
        num = (randint(1, 5)-1)*5 + randint(1, 5)-1
        if num < 21:
                return 1 + num%7

100000次运行的测试分布:

>>> rnums = []
>>> for _ in range(100000):
    rnums.append(rand7())
>>> {n:rnums.count(n) for n in set(rnums)}
{1: 15648, 2: 15741, 3: 15681, 4: 15847, 5: 15642, 6: 15806, 7: 15635}