Commit 68841cee authored by Raymond Hettinger's avatar Raymond Hettinger

Small edits to the docs for sample() and shuffle().

parent 7c7da38e
...@@ -152,13 +152,19 @@ Functions for sequences: ...@@ -152,13 +152,19 @@ Functions for sequences:
.. function:: shuffle(x[, random]) .. function:: shuffle(x[, random])
Shuffle the sequence *x* in place. The optional argument *random* is a Shuffle the sequence *x* in place.
0-argument function returning a random float in [0.0, 1.0); by default, this is
the function :func:`.random`.
Note that for even rather small ``len(x)``, the total number of permutations of The optional argument *random* is a 0-argument function returning a random
*x* is larger than the period of most random number generators; this implies float in [0.0, 1.0); by default, this is the function :func:`.random`.
that most permutations of a long sequence can never be generated.
To shuffle an immutable sequence and return a new shuffled list, use
``sample(x, k=len(x))`` instead.
Note that even for small ``len(x)``, the total number of permutations of *x*
can quickly grow larger than the period of most random number generators.
This implies that most permutations of a long sequence can never be
generated. For example, a sequence of length 2080 is the largest that
can fit within the period of the Mersenne Twister random number generator.
.. function:: sample(population, k) .. function:: sample(population, k)
...@@ -175,9 +181,9 @@ Functions for sequences: ...@@ -175,9 +181,9 @@ Functions for sequences:
Members of the population need not be :term:`hashable` or unique. If the population Members of the population need not be :term:`hashable` or unique. If the population
contains repeats, then each occurrence is a possible selection in the sample. contains repeats, then each occurrence is a possible selection in the sample.
To choose a sample from a range of integers, use an :func:`range` object as an To choose a sample from a range of integers, use a :func:`range` object as an
argument. This is especially fast and space efficient for sampling from a large argument. This is especially fast and space efficient for sampling from a large
population: ``sample(range(10000000), 60)``. population: ``sample(range(10000000), k=60)``.
If the sample size is larger than the population size, a :exc:`ValueError` If the sample size is larger than the population size, a :exc:`ValueError`
is raised. is raised.
......
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