org.jgrapht.alg.util

## Class AliasMethodSampler

• public class AliasMethodSampler
extends Object
The alias method for sampling from a discrete probability distribution.

The implementation is described in the paper: Michael D. Vose. A Linear Algorithm for Generating Random Numbers with a Given Distribution. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 17(9):972--975, 1991.

Initialization takes O(n) where n is the number of items. Sampling takes O(1).

Since:
February 2017
Author:
Dimitrios Michail
• ### Constructor Summary

Constructors
Constructor and Description
AliasMethodSampler(double[] p)
Constructor
AliasMethodSampler(double[] p, long seed)
Constructor
AliasMethodSampler(double[] p, Random rng)
Constructor
AliasMethodSampler(double[] p, Random rng, double epsilon)
Constructor
• ### Method Summary

All Methods
Modifier and Type Method and Description
int next()
Sample a value from the distribution.
• ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
• ### Constructor Detail

• #### AliasMethodSampler

public AliasMethodSampler(double[] p)
Constructor
Parameters:
p - the probability distribution where position i of the array is Prob(X=i)
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - in case of a non-valid probability distribution
• #### AliasMethodSampler

public AliasMethodSampler(double[] p,
long seed)
Constructor
Parameters:
p - the probability distribution where position i of the array is Prob(X=i)
seed - seed to use for the random number generator
• #### AliasMethodSampler

public AliasMethodSampler(double[] p,
Random rng)
Constructor
Parameters:
p - the probability distribution where position i of the array is Prob(X=i)
rng - the random number generator
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - in case of a non-valid probability distribution
• #### AliasMethodSampler

public AliasMethodSampler(double[] p,
Random rng,
double epsilon)
Constructor
Parameters:
p - the probability distribution where position i of the array is Prob(X=i)
rng - the random number generator
epsilon - tolerance used when comparing floating-point values
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - in case of a non-valid probability distribution
• ### Method Detail

• #### next

public int next()
Sample a value from the distribution.
Returns:
a sample from the distribution