I had a task in a book to pick 5 items from a list of 26
ensuring the items are not repeated
import random
list = ['a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m',
'n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z']
word = ' '
a = random.choice(list)
list.remove(a)
b = random.choice(list)
list.remove(b)
c = random.choice(list)
list.remove(c)
d = random.choice(list)
list.remove(d)
e = random.choice(list)
list.remove(e)
word = a + b + c + d + e
print (word)
print(list)
If you just need the "word", you can use
>>> word = "".join(random.sample(string.lowercase, 5))
If you need the "leftovers" too:
>>> letters = list(string.lowercase)
>>> random.shuffle(letters)
>>> word = "".join(letters[:5])
>>> remainder = letters[5:]
>>> print word
hjwnq
>>> print "".join(letters)
ebultgydafpmrxszicvko
This assumes that your input dataset is unique (which
string.lowercase is, but your problem definition doesn't
guarantee) for your definition of "unique" (are upper/lowercase
considered "unique" or "the same"?). If you need unique, you'd
have to pre-process -- likely with set():
>>> data = "abcdefghijABCDEFGHIJK"
>>> input_data = list(set(c.lower() for c in data))
>>> word = "".join(random.sample(input_data, 5))
>>> random.shuffle(input_data)
>>> word = "".join(input_data[:5])
>>> remainder = "".join(input_data[5:])
-tkc
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