std::random_device() uses the relatively slow /dev/urandom, and we rarely if
ever intend to use it directly - we normally want to use it to seed a faster
random_engine (a pseudo-random number generator).
In many places in the code, we first created a random_device variable, and then
using it created a random_engine variable. However, this practice created the
risk of a programmer accidentally using the random_device object, instead of the
random_engine object, because both have the same API; This hurts performance.
This risk materialized in just two places in the code, utils/uuid.cc and
gms/gossiper.cc. A patch for to uuid.cc was sent previously by Pawel and is
not included in this patch, and the fix for gossiper.{cc,hh} is included here.
To avoid risking the same mistake in the future, this patch switches across the
code to an idiom where the random_device object is not *named*, so cannot be
accidentally used. We use the following idiom:
std::default_random_engine _engine{std::random_device{}()};
Here std::random_device{}() creates the random device (/dev/urandom) and pulls
a random integer from it. It then uses this seed to create the random_engine
(the pseudo-random number generator). The std::random_device{} object is
temporary and unnamed, and cannot be unintentionally used directly.
Signed-off-by: Nadav Har'El <nyh@scylladb.com>
Message-Id: <20180726154958.4405-1-nyh@scylladb.com>
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