The other thread mentioned Marsaglia’s xorshf generator, but no one posted the code.
static unsigned long x=123456789, y=362436069, z=521288629;
unsigned long xorshf96(void) { //period 2^96-1
unsigned long t;
x ^= x << 16;
x ^= x >> 5;
x ^= x << 1;
t = x;
x = y;
y = z;
z = t ^ x ^ y;
return z;
}
I’ve used this one all over the place. The only place it failed was when I was trying to produce random binary matrices. Past about 95×95 matrices, it starts generating too few or too many singular matrices (I forget which). It’s been shown that this generator is equivalent to a linear shift feedback register. But unless you are doing cryptography or serious monte carlo work, this generator rocks.