> Caching might help. > > If random_pick is called several times with the same list(s) then > cache the result of > [property(i) for i in a_list] against a_list. > > If random_pick is called several times with list(s) with multiple > instances of list items then cache > property(i) against i for i in a_list . > > You could do both. > > You might investigate wether property(i) could be implemented using a > faster algorithm, maybe table lookup, or interpolation from initial > table lookup. > > - Paddy.
Thanks, Paddy. Those are interesting general comments for the general problem. By the way, I noticed two things: I forgot to write randint in the third approach: > > a=globalRNG.randint(1,len(a_list)) The warning "The group you are posting to is a Usenet group. Messages posted to this group will make your email address visible to anyone on the Internet." means a person, but not a bot, may see my email address, so it is safe to use my real address next time... -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
