Random Search Picks

Problem

Pick k distinct candidate indices for random search. Call random.seed(seed), shuffle range(n_candidates), and return the first k indices sorted ascending.

Return [] if k <= 0.

Hint

Seeded shuffling gives reproducible random subsets without replacement.

Test cases

case 1

in: [10,3,42]

expected: [2,3,7]

case 2

in: [6,2,7]

expected: [0,4]

case 3

in: [4,4,0]

expected: [0,1,2,3]

case 4

in: [5,1,123]

expected: [3]

Starter codePython

import random
def random_search_picks(n_candidates, k, seed):
    # Your code here
    pass

4 test cases · run your code against them in the editor