All The Numbers

Numbers & Entropy

On a whim, I thought it might be interesting to create a small program in Kotlin to generate an infinite stream of numbers. Just for the sake of watching the entropy unfold.

Here’s the prototype so far:

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import com.github.ajalt.clikt.core.CliktCommand
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import com.github.ajalt.clikt.core.main
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import kotlinx.coroutines.delay
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import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.flow
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import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
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import kotlin.random.Random
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class Hello : CliktCommand() {
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    override fun run() {
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        // 1. Define the infinite stream
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        val randomNumFlow = flow {
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            while (true) {
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                emit(Random.nextInt(0, Int.MAX_VALUE))
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                delay(1000) // One drop of entropy per second
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            }
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        }
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        runBlocking {
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            randomNumFlow.collect { value ->
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                println("Generated: $value")
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            }
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        }
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    }
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}
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fun main(args: Array<String>) = Hello().main(args)

Clikt

As you can see from the code sample, I am using a library to build the command-line interface. Since my main goal is just to see the numbers flow, I didn’t want to overcomplicate the setup.

I’m using Clikt, which makes CLI creation in Kotlin almost effortless. It handles the boilerplate so I can focus on the logic.

Future Plans

From what I understand about Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs), they rely on the entropy services provided by the Operating System. While they’re functionally random for most tasks, they aren’t “true” randomness.

I have some ideas on how to introduce a bit of chaos and tap into “true randomness,” but I’ll save that rabbit hole for a future post.