Question

Choose random colors. Suppose we have eight different colors. Make a program that chooses one of these colors at random and writes out the color. Hint: Use a list of color names and use the choice function in the random module to pick a list element. Name of program file: choose_color.py.

Short answer

Use the random module's choice function on a list of 8 colors.

Step-by-step solution

Import Required Module

To start, we need to use the `random` module in Python. This module provides functions to work with randomization, and specifically, we will be using the `choice` function to randomly select an element from a list. To use it, import the module using `import random`.

Define the List of Colors

Create a list named `colors` containing eight different color names as strings. For instance, you can use `colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green', 'yellow', 'purple', 'orange', 'white', 'black']`.

Choose a Random Color

Use the `random.choice` function to select a random color from the `colors` list. Assign the result to a variable, such as `selected_color`. The code will look like this: `selected_color = random.choice(colors)`.

Display the Selected Color

Finally, print the randomly selected color to the console using `print(selected_color)`.

Complete Program Code

Combine all the steps to create the program `choose_color.py`. The complete code will look like this: ```python import random colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green', 'yellow', 'purple', 'orange', 'white', 'black'] selected_color = random.choice(colors) print(selected_color) ``` This code will output one of the colors from the list at random each time it is run.

Key concepts

Random Module

Python's `random` module is a powerful tool for any situation where you need to introduce randomness into your program. The `random` module can perform a variety of tasks, from simple random number generation to complex statistical distributions. It's especially useful in scenarios like simulations, games, and sampling.

To use the features of the `random` module, it must first be imported into your program with the command `import random`. This makes all functions within the module available for use. The module includes functions like `randint` for generating pseudo-random integers, `uniform` for random floating-point numbers, and `choice` for selecting a random item from a sequence, among others.

The randomness in `random` is based on algorithms that produce pseudo-random numbers, meaning they are not purely random but are determined by initial seeding. Thankfully, for most applications, this level of randomness is sufficient.

List Manipulation

List manipulation in Python is a fundamental concept that allows developers to store and manage a collection of items. Lists are one of Python's built-in data types and can hold heterogeneous elements, meaning elements of different types. Lists are mutable, meaning their content or length can be changed after they are created.

Creating a list is simple: use square brackets to enclose a sequence of elements, separated by commas. For example, `colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green']`. This list holds three color names. You can access elements in a list by indexing, with the first element starting at index 0. Thus, `colors[0]` would return 'red'.

Lists also allow you to manipulate data easily. You can append new items with `append()` or remove items using `remove()` or `pop()`. List slicing can be used to access a specific range of elements. For example, `colors[0:2]` would return ['red', 'blue']. By understanding list manipulation, you can effectively manage ordered data collections in your programs.

Random Choice Function

The `random.choice` function is a handy method within the `random` module that selects a random item from a non-empty sequence, most commonly a list. This is particularly useful when you need to make unbiased selections like in games or when simulating random events.

To use this function, first ensure that you have imported the `random` module. The usage is straightforward: pass a list as an argument to `random.choice`. For example, `selected_color = random.choice(colors)` will randomly select and assign a color from the `colors` list to `selected_color`.

The selected value returned by `random.choice` is genuinely random each time you run the function. This means you can call `random.choice` multiple times and potentially get different results each time, reflecting changes in sequence order or selection domain. Make sure that the list or sequence you are passing has at least one element, as `random.choice` will not work with an empty sequence.