Python:有一个简单的两行答案，它使用空间代数和模量的组合。这不是直观的。我对它的解释令人困惑，但却是正确的。

知道5*7=35 7/5 = 1余数为2。如何保证余数之和始终为0?5*[7/5 = 1余数2]——> 35/5 = 7余数0

想象一下，我们有一条丝带，缠在一根周长为7的杆子上。丝带需要35个单位才能均匀地缠绕。随机选择7个色带片段len=[1…5]。忽略换行的有效长度与将rand5()转换为rand7()的方法相同。

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
# display is a notebook function FYI
def rand5(): ## random uniform int [1...5]
    return np.random.randint(1,6)

n_trials = 1000
samples = [rand5() for _ in range(n_trials)]

display(pd.Series(samples).value_counts(normalize=True))
# 4    0.2042
# 5    0.2041
# 2    0.2010
# 1    0.1981
# 3    0.1926
# dtype: float64
    
def rand7(): # magic algebra
    x = sum(rand5() for _ in range(7))
    return x%7 + 1

samples = [rand7() for _ in range(n_trials)]

display(pd.Series(samples).value_counts(normalize=False))
# 6    1475
# 2    1475
# 3    1456
# 1    1423
# 7    1419
# 4    1393
# 5    1359
# dtype: int64
    
df = pd.DataFrame([
    pd.Series([rand7() for _ in range(n_trials)]).value_counts(normalize=True)
    for _ in range(1000)
])
df.describe()
#      1    2   3   4   5   6   7
# count 1000.000000 1000.000000 1000.000000 1000.000000 1000.000000 1000.000000 1000.000000
# mean  0.142885    0.142928    0.142523    0.142266    0.142704    0.143048    0.143646
# std   0.010807    0.011526    0.010966    0.011223    0.011052    0.010983    0.011153
# min   0.112000    0.108000    0.101000    0.110000    0.100000    0.109000    0.110000
# 25%   0.135000    0.135000    0.135000    0.135000    0.135000    0.135000    0.136000
# 50%   0.143000    0.142000    0.143000    0.142000    0.143000    0.142000    0.143000
# 75%   0.151000    0.151000    0.150000    0.150000    0.150000    0.150000    0.151000
# max   0.174000    0.181000    0.175000    0.178000    0.189000    0.176000    0.179000

这个解决方案受到了Rob McAfee的启发。 然而，它不需要循环，结果是一个均匀分布:

// Returns 1-5
var rnd5 = function(){
   return parseInt(Math.random() * 5, 10) + 1;
}
// Helper
var lastEdge = 0;
// Returns 1-7
var rnd7 = function () {
  var map = [
     [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ],
     [ 6, 7, 1, 2, 3 ],
     [ 4, 5, 6, 7, 1 ],
     [ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ],
     [ 7, 0, 0, 0, 0 ]
  ];
  var result = map[rnd5() - 1][rnd5() - 1];
  if (result > 0) {
    return result;
  }
  lastEdge++;
  if (lastEdge > 7 ) {
    lastEdge = 1;
  }
  return lastEdge;
};

// Test the a uniform distribution
results = {}; for(i=0; i < 700000;i++) { var rand = rnd7(); results[rand] = results[rand] ? results[rand] + 1 : 1;} 
console.log(results)

结果:[1:99560,2:99932,3:100355,4:100262,5:99603,6:100062,7:100226]

js小提琴

Here's a solution that fits entirely within integers and is within about 4% of optimal (i.e. uses 1.26 random numbers in {0..4} for every one in {0..6}). The code's in Scala, but the math should be reasonably clear in any language: you take advantage of the fact that 7^9 + 7^8 is very close to 5^11. So you pick an 11 digit number in base 5, and then interpret it as a 9 digit number in base 7 if it's in range (giving 9 base 7 numbers), or as an 8 digit number if it's over the 9 digit number, etc.:

abstract class RNG {
  def apply(): Int
}

class Random5 extends RNG {
  val rng = new scala.util.Random
  var count = 0
  def apply() = { count += 1 ; rng.nextInt(5) }
}

class FiveSevener(five: RNG) {
  val sevens = new Array[Int](9)
  var nsevens = 0
  val to9 = 40353607;
  val to8 = 5764801;
  val to7 = 823543;
  def loadSevens(value: Int, count: Int) {
    nsevens = 0;
    var remaining = value;
    while (nsevens < count) {
      sevens(nsevens) = remaining % 7
      remaining /= 7
      nsevens += 1
    }
  }
  def loadSevens {
    var fivepow11 = 0;
    var i=0
    while (i<11) { i+=1 ; fivepow11 = five() + fivepow11*5 }
    if (fivepow11 < to9) { loadSevens(fivepow11 , 9) ; return }
    fivepow11 -= to9
    if (fivepow11 < to8) { loadSevens(fivepow11 , 8) ; return }
    fivepow11 -= to8
    if (fivepow11 < 3*to7) loadSevens(fivepow11 % to7 , 7)
    else loadSevens
  }
  def apply() = {
    if (nsevens==0) loadSevens
    nsevens -= 1
    sevens(nsevens)
  }
}

如果你将一个测试粘贴到解释器中(实际上是REPL)，你会得到:

scala> val five = new Random5
five: Random5 = Random5@e9c592

scala> val seven = new FiveSevener(five)
seven: FiveSevener = FiveSevener@143c423

scala> val counts = new Array[Int](7)
counts: Array[Int] = Array(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)

scala> var i=0 ; while (i < 100000000) { counts( seven() ) += 1 ; i += 1 }
i: Int = 100000000

scala> counts
res0: Array[Int] = Array(14280662, 14293012, 14281286, 14284836, 14287188,
14289332, 14283684)

scala> five.count
res1: Int = 125902876

分布很好，很平坦(在每个箱子中，10^8的1/7大约在10k范围内，就像预期的近似高斯分布一样)。

这里允许作业题吗?

这个函数进行粗略的“以5为基数”的数学运算，生成0到6之间的数字。

function rnd7() {
    do {
        r1 = rnd5() - 1;
        do {
            r2=rnd5() - 1;
        } while (r2 > 1);
        result = r2 * 5 + r1;
    } while (result > 6);
    return result + 1;
}

下面是一个利用c++ 11特性的答案

#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
#include <ostream>
#include <random>

int main()
{
    std::random_device rd;
    unsigned long seed = rd();
    std::cout << "seed = " << seed << std::endl;

    std::mt19937 engine(seed);

    std::uniform_int_distribution<> dist(1, 5);
    auto rand5 = std::bind(dist, engine);

    const int n = 20;
    for (int i = 0; i != n; ++i)
    {
        std::cout << rand5() << " ";
    }
    std::cout << std::endl;

    // Use a lambda expression to define rand7
    auto rand7 = [&rand5]()->int
    {
        for (int result = 0; ; result = 0)
        {
            // Take advantage of the fact that
            // 5**6 = 15625 = 15624 + 1 = 7 * (2232) + 1.
            // So we only have to discard one out of every 15625 numbers generated.

            // Generate a 6-digit number in base 5
            for (int i = 0; i != 6; ++i)
            {
                result = 5 * result + (rand5() - 1);
            }

            // result is in the range [0, 15625)
            if (result == 15625 - 1)
            {
                // Discard this number
                continue;
            }

            // We now know that result is in the range [0, 15624), a range that can
            // be divided evenly into 7 buckets guaranteeing uniformity
            result /= 2232;
            return 1 + result;
        }
    };

    for (int i = 0; i != n; ++i)
    {
        std::cout << rand7() << " ";
    }
    std::cout << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

这个问题的主要概念是关于正态分布的，这里提供了一个简单的递归解决这个问题的方法

假设我们已经在我们的作用域中有rand5():

def rand7():
    # twoway = 0 or 1 in the same probability
    twoway = None
    while not twoway in (1, 2):
        twoway = rand5()
    twoway -= 1

    ans = rand5() + twoway * 5

    return ans if ans in range(1,8) else rand7()

解释

我们可以把这个程序分成两个部分:

循环rand5()直到我们找到1或2，这意味着我们有1/2的概率在变量中有1或2 复合ans by rand5() + twoway * 5，这正是rand10()的结果，如果这不符合我们的需要(1~7)，然后我们再次运行rand7。

附注:我们不能在第二部分直接运行while循环，因为双向的每个概率都需要是单独的。

但是有一个权衡，因为第一部分中的while循环和return语句中的递归，这个函数不能保证执行时间，它实际上是无效的。

结果

我做了一个简单的测试来观察我的答案的分布。

result = [ rand7() for x in xrange(777777) ]

ans = {
    1: 0,
    2: 0,
    3: 0,
    4: 0,
    5: 0,
    6: 0,
    7: 0,
}

for i in result:
    ans[i] += 1

print ans

它给了

{1: 111170, 2: 110693, 3: 110651, 4: 111260, 5: 111197, 6: 111502, 7: 111304}

因此，我们可以知道这个答案是正态分布。

简单的答案

如果你不关心这个函数的执行时间，下面是一个基于我上面给出的答案的简化答案:

def rand7():
    ans = rand5() + (rand5()-1) * 5
    return ans if ans < 8 else rand7()

这增加了大于8的值的概率，但这可能是这个问题的最短答案。