random-generator 0.1
random-generator is trying to answer the following question:
What is an elegant interface for random value generation?
The focus is to get a combinator library where small, composable combinators are composed to express rich behaviors. I tried hard to choose type definitions that avoid duplication of concerns between the various aspects of the library, building domain-specific notions of random generation on top of a simple base layer in a modular way.
(Note that this focus is sometimes in tension with providing convenient, derived functions that make user's code short and easy to read. For now, random-generator will choose the "nice for the library designer" way, and code may require some time learning the library to be easy to read. You have been warned.)
The library currently provides three different pieces:
- a type
'a Gen.tfor dead simple random generation - a type
'a BacktrackGen.tfor generators that can fail: "generate a value such that this (possibly empty) condition is verified" - a type
'a FuelGen.tfor generation of values with an inductive (tree-like) structure that looks nice to the human eye; see the documentation for more information on this.
I consider the value of this library to be in its interface, not necessarily its implementation. I think the current interface is solid (though it can still be improved) and encourage people writing random generators to steal and reuse it -- or at least feel inspired by it.
Versioning
I consider that I can (and will) break backward compatibility by changing the interface for any 0.x release.
License
This library is free software, available under
the BSD-2-clause license (see file LICENSE).