Name: rmT116609 Date: 03/05/2003


DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Documentation of nextDouble() in java.util.Random contains
the sentence:

"All 2^53 possible float values of the form m x 2^-53 ,
where m is a positive integer less than 2^53, are produced
with (approximately) equal probability."

I believe this statement is incorrect, and also contains a
typo.

As Random uses only a 48-bit seed, the number of different
values of a given type that may be produced is clearly
bounded by 2^48. Hence only 2^48 different doubles can be
returned, which is only 1/32 of the claimed range.

The "approximately" does not (IMHO) absorb the error, as
{2^-48, 0, 0, 0, ..... 0, 0} is nothing like {2^-53, 2^-53,
2^-53, 2^-53, .... 2^-53, 2^-53}.

Also, the word "float" is used where "double" is probably
intended.

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.
(Review ID: 180209)
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