How can I generate random numbers in Python?

Question

Are there any built-in libraries in Python or Numpy to generate random numbers based on various common distributions, such as:

And various others?

Are there any such libraries with multi-variate distributions?

unutbu · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-25T00:38:21.707

27

#!/usr/bin/env python
from scipy.stats import bernoulli,poisson,norm,expon

bernoulli, poisson, norm, expon and many others are documented here

print(norm.rvs(size=30))
print(bernoulli.rvs(.3,size=30))
print(poisson.rvs(1,2,size=30))
print(expon.rvs(5,size=30))

All the distributions defined in scipy.stats have a common interface to the pdf, cdf, rvs (random variates). More info here.

edited Jul 25 '14 at 00:38

answered Oct 31 '09 at 20:58

unutbu

1

Import soul. Damn you Python ! – e-satis Oct 31 '09 at 21:15
Your second link there says "**Forbidden**" ... "You don't have permission to access /~dkuhlman/scipy_course_01.html on this server." --- looks like linkrot – Glen_b Jul 24 '14 at 23:05
1

@Glen_b: I've changed the link to a cached version of the page. – unutbu Jul 25 '14 at 00:38

Ned Batchelder · Answer 2 · 2009-10-31T20:46:57.980

5

The random module has tons of functions for generating random numbers in lots of way. Not sure it has multi-variate.

Numpy.random would be the next place to look.

edited Oct 31 '09 at 20:46

answered Oct 31 '09 at 20:41

Ned Batchelder

1

I took the liberty of adding in a link to the documentation for `random` – Nathan Fellman Oct 31 '09 at 20:45

2 Answers2