random string from a sequence

Question

Is there a way to randomize a set string, like you can for integers?

I'll give an example:

import random
random.randint(1, 30) #will produce random number between 1 and 30

And for a string I would like to randomize words from a set variable:

a="off","it","on","not"
random.randstr(a) #I understand that this isnt a real code and will produce and error

Is there an easy way to make this possible?

Óscar López · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-13 22:23:36Z

16

Try this, it's the idiomatic solution:

import random
a = ['off', 'it', 'on', 'not']
random.choice(a)
=> 'on' # just an example, it's a random output

The above code makes use of the choice() function, take a look at the documentation for additional details.

answered Sep 13, 2013 at 21:58

Óscar López

237k38 gold badges321 silver badges391 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Linuxios · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-13 21:57:18Z

3

Like this:

a = ["off","it","on","not"]
a[random.randint(0, len(a))]

answered Sep 13, 2013 at 21:57

Linuxios

35.9k13 gold badges96 silver badges118 bronze badges