How to Randomly Select a Element from List in Python

Using random.choice Method

The random.choice() method returns a random element from the non-empty sequence seq. If seq is empty, raises IndexError. For example,

#!/usr/bin/python3

# Import module
import random

a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
print(random.choice(a))

c

Using secrets.choice Method

For cryptographically secure random choices (e.g., for generating a passphrase from a wordlist), use secrets.choice():

#!/usr/bin/python3

# Import module
import secrets

a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
print(secrets.choice(a))

b

Using random.sample Method

The sample method returns a new list containing elements from the population while leaving the original population unchanged.

#!/usr/bin/python3

# Import module
import random

a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
l = random.sample(a, 2)
print(l)

['b', 'a']

By default the random number generator uses the current system time.