Seedefunktsioon

Seedefunktsioon (literally “seed function” in Estonian) is a term used in computing to denote a function that produces an initial seed for initializing pseudorandom number generators and other stochastic processes. It describes any mechanism that maps input data to a fixed seed value, often a byte string or integer, used to start a sequence of pseudo-random values. The concept is not tied to a single standard library or specification but to the idea of seeding randomness from various inputs.

Etymology: The word combines seede ('seed') and funktsioon ('function'), reflecting its role in providing a seed for randomness.

Design and properties: A seedefunktsioon aims to be deterministic given a fixed set of inputs, ensuring reproducibility. It may incorporate entropy sources such as system time, hardware random number generators, or environmental data, and cryptographic processing (for example hashing) when higher unpredictability is required. Practical implementations balance speed, portability, and security, since weak or predictable seeds can compromise simulations, tests, or cryptographic protocols.

Applications and examples: Common use cases include seeding pseudorandom number generators in software tests, simulations, and games; generating cryptographic seeds for key derivation or nonce creation; and initializing stochastic algorithms in machine learning. A simple example is computing the SHA-256 hash of a concatenation of timestamp, process identifier, and a user-provided salt to produce a 256-bit seed.

See also: Pseudorandom number generator, entropy, cryptographic seed, hash function, seed (computing).