Some ways to select k random elements from a list

gistfile1.py

"""
Some solutions for @bobuk's problem discussed in
http://www.radio-t.com/p/2014/10/18/podcast-414/
"""

import random

L_TEST = [1234, 1, 23, 252, 13523, 829, 2378, 234555, 912394]
K_TEST = 3


def select1(l, k):
    """Select ``k`` random elements from list ``l``.
    Suitable when len(l) is small
    """
    return random.sample(l, k)


def select2(l, k):
    """Select ``k`` random elements from list ``l``.
    It removes these ``k`` elements from the list.
    Suitable when the list takes alsmost all memory.
    """
    selection = []
    len_l = len(l)
    for _ in xrange(k):
        i = random.randint(0, len_l - 1)
        selection.append(l.pop(i))
    return selection


if __name__ == '__main__':
    print select1(L_TEST, K_TEST)
    print select2(L_TEST, K_TEST)