Python-list Digest, Vol 176, Issue 16

[Paul Moore]

On 14 May 2018 at 20:02, Paul <tallpaul at gmail.com> wrote:
> 1) I understand the added cost of verifying the sequence.  However, this
> appears to be a one-time cost.  E.G., if I submit this,
>
> random.choices(lm,cum_weights=[25,26,36,46,136],k=400
>
> then the code will do an O(n log n) operation 400 times.
>
> If verification was added, then the the code would do an O(n log n)
> operation 400 times, plus an O(n) operation done *one* time.   So, I'm not
> sure that this would be a significant efficiency hit (except in rare cases).

That's a good point. But as I don't have any need myself for
random.choices with a significant population size (the only case where
this matters) I'll leave it to those who do use the functionality to
decide on that point.

Regards,
Paul