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@JoelQ
Last active September 30, 2021 07:16
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Turn an Elm random generator into task, allowing it to be chained with other side effects.
-- 0.19
randomToTask : Generator a -> Task x a
randomToTask generator =
Time.now
|> Task.map (Tuple.first << Random.step generator << Random.initialSeed << Time.posixToMillis)
-- 0.18
randomToTask : Generator a -> Task x a
randomToTask generator =
Time.now
|> Task.map (Tuple.first << Random.step generator << Random.initialSeed << round)
@JoelQ
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JoelQ commented Jun 17, 2019

@andys8 because it uses the current time as a seed, the random value more guessable than it otherwise would be (note that regardless of seed value, Random is not cryptographically secure).

I think it's fine to use this but personally haven't found a need for it. I've never had to combine randomness with other side effects like HTTP requests.

@JoelQ
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JoelQ commented Jun 17, 2019

The original version I had up was for Elm 0.18. I've updated the gist with your modified version, labelling it as 0.19 compatible.

@andys8
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andys8 commented Jun 17, 2019

Thanks for your answer. I'm aware of the effect on randomness.

I searched for a way to combine Cmds. The use case need both a Uuid (Generator) and the current Posix (Task). There is no Cmd#andThen but there is Task#andThen. This snippet is the closest solution I found so far while it's not ideal.

@andys8
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andys8 commented Oct 6, 2019

Interesting discussion regarding cmd chaining
https://gist.github.com/alpacaaa/13335246234042395813d97af029b10f

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