Random sampling from a list in Python

By Gaurav Jagwani

In this tutorial, we will learn about Random sampling from a list in Python.

We will use sample() function to return random values from a given list of elements. Random is a built-in Python module that returns random values. sample() is a submodule (function) of random module that helps to return a specific length of values.

Code to sample random values for a list

Let’s see an implementation of Sample function.

Import sample function from the Random module.

# Importing sample function from Random module
from random import sample

Create a list of integers.

# Create a list containing integer values
list_A = [20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160]

# Print random elements from list of desired length
print(sample(list_A,5))

Sample() function will take the given list and specific length of values to be returned, as parameters. Here 5 random values are returned from list_A.

Combining code

# Importing sample function from Random module
from random import sample

# Create a list containing integer values
list_A = [20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160]

# Print random elements from list of desired length
print(sample(list_A,5))

Output:

[120, 100, 160, 40, 60]

Output values will change every time you run the code.

Hence we have successfully generated Random sampling from a list of integers in Python.

Also, read:

• Python Program to find the second largest element in an array