choosing multiple element in python list

Question

How can i choose random multiple elements from list? I looked it from internet but couldn't find anything.

words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]

Answer 1

You could achieve that with random.sample() :

from random import sample

words = ["ar", "aba", "oto", "bus"]
selected = sample(words, 2)

That would select 2 words randomly from the words list. You can check Python docs for more details.

Answer 2

I think about that:

import random as rd
words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]
random_words = [word for word in words if rd.random()>1/2]

You can adjust 1/2 by any value between 0 and 1 to approximate the percentage of words chosen in the initial list.

Answer 3

Use random

Here is example

• random.choice

>>> import random
>>> words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]
>>> print(random.choice(words))
ar
>>> print(random.choice(words))
ar
>>> print(random.choice(words))
oto
>>> print(random.choice(words))
aba
>>> print(random.choice(words))
ar
>>> print(random.choice(words))
bus

• random.sample # sample takes one extra argument to pass a list with element is returned

>>> print(random.sample(words, 3))
['bus', 'ar', 'oto']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 3))
['ar', 'oto', 'aba']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 2))
['aba', 'bus']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 2))
['ar', 'aba']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 1))
['ar']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 1))
['ar']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 1))
['oto']
>>> print(random.sample(words, 1))
['bus']

Answer 4

You can use random library

Method 1 - random.choice()

from random import choice

words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]
word = choice(words)
print(word)

Method 2 - Generate Random Index

from random import randint

words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]
ind = randint(0, len(words)-1)
word = words[ind]
print(word)

Method 3 - Select Multiple Items

from random import choices

words=["ar","aba","oto","bus"]
selected = choices(words, k=2)   # k is the elements count to select
print(selected)