Argument of set.seed in R

r

Solution

The `seed` argument in `set.seed` is a single value, interpreted as an integer (as defined in `help(set.seed())`. The `seed` in `set.seed` produces random values which are unique to that `seed` (and will be same irrespective of the computer you run and hence ensures reproducibility). So the random values generated by `set.seed(1)` and `set.seed(123)` will not be the same but the random values generated by R in your computer using `set.seed(1)` and by R in my computer using the same `seed` are the same.

set.seed(1)
x<-rnorm(10,2,1)
> x
 [1] 1.373546 2.183643 1.164371 3.595281 2.329508 1.179532 2.487429 2.738325 2.575781 1.694612
set.seed(123)
y<-rnorm(10,2,1)
> y
 [1] 1.4395244 1.7698225 3.5587083 2.0705084 2.1292877 3.7150650 2.4609162 0.7349388 1.3131471 1.5543380

> identical(x,y)
[1] FALSE

Problem

I am trying to understand how `set.seed` works in R. I understand it, can reproduce random samples, but I don't know what is the difference between `set.seed(1)` and `set.seed(123)` ? What do the argument in the bracket mean ?

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