Rename srand to Random.seed

[ChristianKurz]

I frequently need to look this up and it seems to be against the naming convention of spelling things out.
Other scientific languages do not use that syntax either:

• R had srand but its deprecated, now uses set.seed()
• MATLAB uses rng(seed)
• Python uses random.seed()

While C actually uses srand, i think we want to improve upon C-Syntax?

Edit: There has been some short discussion about this in 2014

[rfourquet]

I would also propose reseed!

[ViralBShah]

I prefer something with rand in it. So seedrand.

[StefanKarpinski]

Yes, seedrand seems like a pretty good name.

[fredrikekre]

Unexported Random.seed?

[ViralBShah]

Since we do have randjump, why not go with randseed instead? Other option is to perhaps make them both unexported.

[rfourquet]

Since we do have randjump, why not go with randseed instead?

I like the increased consistency (but see also bitrand), although it may sound to some like randseed would return a random seed, in the same way we have randperm and randstring producing random permutations and strings.

[ViralBShah]

That is a good point.

[ChristianKurz]

So the choice is between seedrand and unexported Random.seed.
I like both, but I think Random.seed may be the better option:

• it's reasonably short
• seeding an RNG may not be considered beginners usage, so discoverability should not be a problem.
• i like how Random stands out in the code for readability
• it's the same in Python

[JeffBezanson]

If anybody wants this in 0.7, it needs to be done ASAP.

[StefanKarpinski]

Random.seed can happen if someone makes a PR in the next day, but this is not a release blocker.