[ python-Bugs-1033038 ] Misleading error message in random.choice

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Bugs item #1033038, was opened at 2004-09-22 23:48
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Category: Python Library
Group: Python 2.3
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Nefarious CodeMonkey, Jr. (nejucomo)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Misleading error message in random.choice

Initial Comment:
Giving random.choice(seq) an empty sequence leads to a
misleading error message, as per this example:

>>> import random; random.choice([])
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
  File "/usr/lib/python2.3/random.py", line 231, in choice
    return seq[int(self.random() * len(seq))]
IndexError: list index out of range


A simple fix is to "assert len(seq) > 0" in the choice
method.

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