[Python-Dev] a note in random.shuffle.__doc__ ...

[Greg Ewing]

Dan Christensen wrote:

> I think Terry's point is valid.  While no one call to
> random.shuffle(L) can produce every possible ordering of L (when
> len(L) is large), since random.shuffle shuffle's the data in place,
> repeated calls to random.shuffle(L) could in principle produce every
> possible ordering,

But how do you decide how many times to shuffle before
dealing the cards? If you pull that number out of your
RNG, then you're back in the same boat. If you get it
from somewhere else, the RNG is no longer the only
thing determining the result.

--
Greg