Java™ How To Program (Early Objects), Tenth Edition

Changing the Range of Values Produced By nextInt

The range of values produced by method nextInt generally differs from the range of values required in a particular Java application. For example, a program that simulates coin tossing might require only 0 for “heads” and 1 for “tails.” A program that simulates the rolling of a six-sided die might require random integers in the range 1–6. A program that randomly predicts the next type of spaceship (out of four possibilities) that will fly across the horizon in a video game might require random integers in the range 1–4. For cases like these, class SecureRandom provides another version of method nextInt that receives an int argument and returns a value from 0 up to, but not including, the argument’s ...