Picking K elements randomly


Problem 1: Consider the problem of picking K elements randomly from N elements. Suggest an algorithm. What is the time and space complexity of your algorithm?

Problem 2: Now consider that the stream is infinitely long (i.e. N is unknown). Now how do we pick K elements randomly.

Update (24 June 2014):
Solution: Posted by Himanshu (Prob 1), PlacementIITB2014 (Prob2) and Sid (Prob1 and Prob2) in comments! Thanks

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Comments

  1. himanshu11:25 AM, December 10, 2013

    for problem 1:
    first we pick one element randomly from N elements , then another one from remaining N-1 elements..so on..till we get K elements;
    One way to code this is..after getting the first element we can swap this element with first element in an array. Now we need to find 2nd random element from a[1] to a[N-1]. Next we swap a[1] & random element.
    After the K steps our initial array contains random elements (from a[0] to a[k-1]). We don't need any extra space.
    Time complexity: we are just swapping the random elements. Picking a random element is O(1) (not sure).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pratik Poddar1:54 AM, June 24, 2014

      Thanks Himanshu. This is Fisher Yattes Shuffle. Thanks - Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher-Yates_shuffle

      Delete
  2. Sid11:30 AM, December 10, 2013

    Problem 1: Generate a random number i between 1 and N. Select the ith element, and swap the Nth element with the ith in the array. Now, generate a random number j between 1 and N-1. Select the jth element, and swap the (N-1)th element with the jth in the array. Continue until K. (This is similar to Fisher Yates shuffle)

    Problem 2: Select the ith element in the stream with probability min(1, K/i). If more than K elements have already been selected, replace any of the existing elements at random. (This is also called Reservoir Sampling)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pratik Poddar1:54 AM, June 24, 2014

      Thanks Sid. Both solutions are bang on! Thanks

      Delete
  3. Anonymous2:46 AM, December 16, 2013

    I think Reservoir Algorithm will work - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir_sampling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pratik Poddar1:55 AM, June 24, 2014

      For the second part, Reservoir Sampling would work. Thanks

      Delete

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