One of n lines in a file

From Rosetta Code
Task
One of n lines in a file
You are encouraged to solve this task according to the task description, using any language you may know.

A method of choosing a line randomly from a file:

  • Without reading the file more than once
  • When substantial parts of the file cannot be held in memory
  • Without knowing how many lines are in the file

Is to:

  • keep the first line of the file as a possible choice, then
  • Read the second line of the file if possible and make it the possible choice if a uniform random value between zero and one is less than 1/2.
  • Read the third line of the file if possible and make it the possible choice if a uniform random value between zero and one is less than 1/3.
  • ...
  • Read the Nth line of the file if possible and make it the possible choice if a uniform random value between zero and one is less than 1/N
  • Return the computed possible choice when no further lines exist in the file.


Task
  1. Create a function/method/routine called one_of_n that given n, the number of actual lines in a file, follows the algorithm above to return an integer - the line number of the line chosen from the file.
    The number returned can vary, randomly, in each run.
  2. Use one_of_n in a simulation to find what would be the chosen line of a 10-line file simulated 1,000,000 times.
  3. Print and show how many times each of the 10 lines is chosen as a rough measure of how well the algorithm works.


Note: You may choose a smaller number of repetitions if necessary, but mention this up-front.

Note: This is a specific version of a Reservoir Sampling algorithm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir_sampling

11l

Translation of: Python
F one_of_n(lines)
   V choice = 0
   L(line) lines
      I random:(0..L.index) == 0
         choice = line
   R choice

F one_of_n_test(n = 10, trials = 1000000)
   V bins = [0] * n
   I n != 0
      L 1..trials
         bins[one_of_n(0 .< n)]++
   R bins

print(one_of_n_test())
Sample output
[100032, 100304, 99964, 100101, 100666, 100276, 99470, 99547, 99738, 99902]

Ada

with Ada.Text_IO, Ada.Numerics.Float_Random;

procedure One_Of_N is

   Num_Of_Lines: constant Positive := 10;

   package Rnd renames Ada.Numerics.Float_Random;
   Gen: Rnd.Generator; -- used globally

   function Choose_One_Of_N(Last_Line_Number: Positive) return Natural is
      Current_Choice: Natural := 0;
   begin
      for Line_Number in 1 .. Last_Line_Number loop
        if (Rnd.Random(Gen) * Float(Line_Number) <= 1.0) then
           Current_Choice := Line_Number;
        end if;
      end loop;
      return Current_Choice;
   end Choose_One_Of_N;

   Results: array(1 .. Num_Of_Lines) of Natural := (others => 0);
   Index: Integer range 1 .. Num_Of_Lines;

begin
   Rnd.Reset(Gen);
   for I in 1 .. 1_000_000 loop    -- compute results
      Index := Choose_One_Of_N(Num_Of_Lines);
      Results(Index) := Results(Index) + 1;
   end loop;

   for R in Results'Range loop    -- output results
      Ada.Text_IO.Put(Integer'Image(Results(R)));
   end loop;
end One_Of_N;
Example output:
 100104 100075 99761 99851 100457 100315 100101 99557 99678 100101

Aime

one_of_n(integer n)
{
    integer i, r;

    i = r = 0;
    while ((r += 1) < n) {
        i = drand(r) ? i : r;
    }

    i;
}

main(void)
{
    integer i;
    index x;

    i = 1000000;
    do {
        x[one_of_n(10)] += 1;
    } while (i -= 1);

    x.ucall(o_winteger, 1, 7);
    o_newline();

    0;
}
Output:
  99804 100236  99846 100484  99888  99639  99886  99810  99923 100484

ALGOL 68

BEGIN
   INT max lines = 10;		CO Should be read from a file. CO
   [max lines]INT stats;
   FOR i TO max lines DO stats[i] := 0 OD;
   first random (42);		CO Should have rather more entropy! CO
   PROC one of n = (INT n) INT :
   BEGIN
      INT result := 1;
      FOR i TO n DO (random < 1/i | result := i) OD;
      result
   END;
   TO 1000000 DO stats[one of n (max lines)] +:= 1 OD;
   print (("Line  Number times chosen", newline));
   FOR i TO max lines DO printf (($g(0)7xg(0)l$, i, stats[i])) OD
END
Output:
Line  Number times chosen
1       99808
2       99715
3       100018
4       100064
5       99373
6       100687
7       99363
8       100349
9       100029
10       100594

Applesoft BASIC

A million iterations will take a very very long time to run. I suggest cranking the end value of J down to 1000 or less in line 20, and run this at full speed in a modern Apple II emulator. Initializing with RND(0) in line 10, seeds the RND function to be random, otherwise you may see the same results every time.

10 I = RND(0) : REMRANDOM SEED

20 FOR J = 1 TO 1000000 : REMMAYBE TRY 100 ON A 1MHZ APPLE II
30     N = 10 : GOSUB 100"ONE_OF_N
40     C(C) = C(C) + 1
50 NEXT

60 FOR J = 1 TO 10
70     PRINT J, C(J)
80 NEXT
90 END

100 REMONE_OF_N
110 FOR I = 1 TO N
120     IF INT(RND(1) * I) = 0 THEN C = I
130 NEXT I
140 RETURN

Arturo

oneOfN: function [n][
    result: 0
    loop 0..dec n 'x [
        if zero? random 0 x ->
            result: x
    ]
    return result
]

oneOfNTest: function [n,trials][
    ret: array.of:n 0
    if n > 0 [
        loop 1..trials 'i [
            oon: oneOfN n
            ret\[oon]: ret\[oon] + 1
        ]
    ]
    return ret
]

print oneOfNTest 10 1000000
Output:
100120 100126 99975 99847 100235 100238 99528 99956 100038 99937

AutoHotkey

Translation of: Python

This simulation is for 100,000 repetitions.

one_of_n(n){
    ; One based line numbers
    choice = 1
    Loop % n-1
    {
        Random, rnd, 1, % A_Index+1
        If rnd = 1
            choice := A_Index+1
    }
    return choice
}
one_of_n_test(n=10, trials=100000){
    bins := [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
    Loop % trials
        bins[one_of_n(n)] += 1
    return bins
}
 
b := one_of_n_test()
Loop 10
   out .= A_Index ": " b[A_Index] "`n"
MsgBox % out

Output:

---------------------------
One of n.ahk
---------------------------
1: 10046
2: 9958
3: 9953
4: 9973
5: 9915
6: 10212
7: 9941
8: 9993
9: 10063
10: 9946

---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

AWK

#!/usr/bin/gawk -f
#
# Usage:
#   gawk -v Seed=$RANDOM -f one_of_n_lines_in_a_file.awk
#
BEGIN {
   srand(Seed ? Seed : 1);
}
{
   if (NR*rand() < 1 ) {
      line = $0
   }
}
END {
   print line;
}

Test randomness

for i in `seq 1 10000`; do seq 1 10 | awk -v Seed=$RANDOM -f one_of_n_lines_in_a_file.awk; done |sort|uniq -c
     91 1
    102 10
    120 2
     82 3
    103 4
     93 5
    112 6
    108 7
     94 8
     95 9

BASIC

Works with: QBasic
DECLARE FUNCTION oneofN& (n AS LONG)

DIM L0 AS LONG, c AS LONG
DIM chosen(1 TO 10) AS LONG

RANDOMIZE TIMER

FOR L0 = 1 TO 1000000
    c = oneofN&(10)
    chosen(c) = chosen(c) + 1
NEXT

FOR L0 = 1 TO 10
    PRINT L0, chosen(L0)
NEXT

FUNCTION oneofN& (n AS LONG)
    'assumes first line is 1
    DIM L1 AS LONG, choice AS LONG
    FOR L1 = 1 TO n
        IF INT(RND * L1) = 0 THEN choice = L1
    NEXT
    oneofN& = choice
END FUNCTION

Sample output:

1             100106
2             99533
3             100318
4             100203
5             99750
6             100412
7             99625
8             100019
9             100154
10            99880

Batch File

I chose to only run this 100,000 times as it is slightly time consuming (running at 105 simulations / second). I attempted to optimise a few ways but none were especially helpful.

There is also no need to parse the actual number of lines in the file to one_of_n

Batch file to call one_of_n

@echo off

for /l %%i in (1,1,10000) do call one_of_n
:: To show progress add to the FOR loop code block - 
:: title %%i

for /l %%i in (1,1,10) do (
	for /f "usebackq tokens=1,2 delims=:" %%j in (`find /c "%%i" output.txt`) do echo Line %%i =%%k
)
del output.txt
pause>nul


one_of_n

setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set /a count=1

for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (file.txt) do (
	set /a rand=!random! %% !count!
	if !rand!==0 set line=!count!
	set /a count+=1
)
echo %line% >> output.txt

endlocal
exit /b


Output

Line 1 = 9,868‬
Line 2 = 10032
Line 3 = 9988
Line 4 = 10160
Line 5 = 10189
Line 6 = 9953
Line 7 = 9851
Line 8 = 10052
Line 9 = 9937
Line 10 = 9970

BBC BASIC

      @% = 7 : REM Column width
      DIM cnt%(10)
      FOR test% = 1 TO 1000000
        cnt%(FNone_of_n(10)) += 1
      NEXT
      FOR i% = 1 TO 10
        PRINT cnt%(i%);
      NEXT
      PRINT
      END
      
      DEF FNone_of_n(n%)
      LOCAL i%, l%
      FOR i% = 1 TO n%
        IF RND(1) <= 1/i% l% = i%
      NEXT
      = l%

Output:

  99846 100156  99812 100275  99995 100019  99217  99778 100409 100493

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

inline int irand(int n)
{
	int r, randmax = RAND_MAX/n * n;
	while ((r = rand()) >= randmax);
	return r / (randmax / n);
}

inline int one_of_n(int n)
{
	int i, r = 0;
	for (i = 1; i < n; i++) if (!irand(i + 1)) r = i;
	return r;
}

int main(void)
{
	int i, r[10] = {0};

	for (i = 0; i < 1000000; i++, r[one_of_n(10)]++);
	for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
		printf("%d%c", r[i], i == 9 ? '\n':' ');

	return 0;
}
output
100561 99814 99816 99721 99244 99772 100790 100072 99997 100213

C#

    class Program
    {
        private static Random rnd = new Random();
        public static int one_of_n(int n)
        {
            int currentChoice = 1;
            for (int i = 2; i <= n; i++)
            {
                double outerLimit = 1D / (double)i;
                if (rnd.NextDouble() < outerLimit)
                    currentChoice = i;
            }
            return currentChoice;
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Dictionary<int, int> results = new Dictionary<int, int>();
            for (int i = 1; i < 11; i++)
                results.Add(i, 0);

            for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++)
            {
                int result = one_of_n(10);
                results[result] = results[result] + 1;
            }

            for (int i = 1; i < 11; i++)
                Console.WriteLine("{0}\t{1}", i, results[i]);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
1       99777
2       100289
3       100028
4       100294
5       99777
6       100330
7       100480
8       99617
9       99682
10      99726

C++

Works with: C++11
#include <random>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

mt19937 engine; //mersenne twister

unsigned int one_of_n(unsigned int n) {
	unsigned int choice;
	for(unsigned int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
		uniform_int_distribution<unsigned int> distribution(0, i);
		if(!distribution(engine))
			choice = i;
	}
	return choice;
}

int main() {
	engine = mt19937(random_device()()); //seed random generator from system
	unsigned int results[10] = {0};
	for(unsigned int i = 0; i < 1000000; ++i)
		results[one_of_n(10)]++;
	ostream_iterator<unsigned int> out_it(cout, " ");
	copy(results, results+10, out_it);
	cout << '\n';
}
output
99981 99806 100190 99831 99833 100291 99356 100165 100279 100268

Chapel

use Random;

proc one_of_n(n) {
    var rand = new RandomStream();
    var keep = 1;

    for i in 2..n do
        if rand.getNext() < 1.0 / i then
            keep = i;

    delete rand;

    return keep;
}

Clojure

The function rand-seq-elem actually implements the algorithm; one-of-n uses it to select a random element from the sequence (1 ... n). (Though they weren't automatically highlighted when I wrote this, rand-int, second, and frequencies and println are also standard functions)

(defn rand-seq-elem [sequence]
  (let [f (fn [[k old] new]
            [(inc k) (if (zero? (rand-int k)) new old)])]
    (->> sequence (reduce f [1 nil]) second)))

(defn one-of-n [n]
  (rand-seq-elem (range 1 (inc n))))

(let [countmap (frequencies (repeatedly 1000000 #(one-of-n 10)))]
  (doseq [[n cnt] (sort countmap)]
    (println n cnt)))

Sample output

1 99350
2 99933
3 99820
4 100266
5 100675
6 100370
7 99842
8 100020
9 100342
10 99382

To actually get a randomly selected line from a file:

(require '[clojure.java.io :as io])

(defn rand-line [filename]
  (with-open [reader (io/reader filename)]
    (rand-seq-elem (line-seq reader)))

Common Lisp

Great place to use closures.

(defun one-of-n-fn ()
  (let ((cur 0) (sel nil))
    #'(lambda (v)
        (setq cur (+ cur 1))
        (if (eql 0 (random cur)) (setq sel v))
        sel)))

(defun test-one-of-n ()
  (let ((counts (make-array 10 :initial-contents '(0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)))
        (fnt))
    (do ((test 0 (+ 1 test)))
        ((eql test 1000000) counts)
      (setq fnt (one-of-n-fn))
      (do ((probe 0 (+ 1 probe)))
          ((eql probe 9) t)
        (funcall fnt probe))
      (let* ((sel (funcall fnt 9)))
        (setf (aref counts sel) (+ 1 (aref counts sel)))))))

Output:

#(100104 100144 100004 99593 100049 99706 100612 99481 100029 100278)

D

import std.stdio, std.random, std.algorithm;

// Zero-based line numbers.
int oneOfN(in int n) {
    int choice = 0;
    foreach (immutable i; 1 .. n)
        if (!uniform(0, i + 1))
            choice = i;
    return choice;
}

void main() {
    int[10] bins;
    foreach (immutable i; 0 .. 1_000_000)
        bins[10.oneOfN]++;

    bins.writeln;
    writeln("Total of bins: ", bins[].sum);
}
Output:
[100091, 99940, 100696, 99799, 100234, 99419, 100225, 99716, 99942, 99938]
Total of bins: 1000000

Delphi

See Pascal.

EasyLang

Translation of: Lua
n = 10
trials = 1000000
func one n .
   for i = 1 to n
      if randomf < 1 / i
         chosen = i
      .
   .
   return chosen
.
len results[] n
for i = 1 to trials
   r = one n
   results[r] += 1
.
print "Value   Occurrences"
print "-------------------"
for i to n
   print i & "\t" & results[i]
.

Eiffel

class
	APPLICATION

create
	make

feature

	make
			-- Simulates one_of_n_lines a 1000000 times.
		local
			t: INTEGER
			simulator: ARRAY [INTEGER]
		do
			create simulator.make_filled (0, 1, 10)
			create one.make
			across
				1 |..| 1000000 as c
			loop
				t := one.one_of_n_lines (10)
				simulator [t] := simulator [t] + 1
			end
			across
				simulator as s
			loop
				io.put_integer (s.item)
				io.new_line
			end
		end

	one: ONE_OF_N_LINES

end
class
	ONE_OF_N_LINES

create
	make

feature {NONE}

	r: RANDOM

feature

	make
		do
			create r.make
		end

	one_of_n_lines (n: INTEGER): INTEGER
                        -- A integer between 1 and 'n', denoting a line.
		require
			n_is_positive: n > 0
		local
			p: REAL_64
		do
			across
				1 |..| n as c
			loop
				p := r.double_item
				if p < (1 / c.item) then
					Result := c.item
				end
				r.forth
			end
		ensure
			Result_in_file: Result <= n
			Result_is_positive: Result > 0
		end

end
Output:
99698
100643
100017
100251
99742
99877
100244
99897
99738
99893

Elixir

Translation of: Erlang
defmodule One_of_n_lines_in_file do
  def task do
    dict = Enum.reduce(1..1000000, %{}, fn _,acc ->
      Map.update( acc, one_of_n(10), 1, &(&1+1) )
    end)
    Enum.each(Enum.sort(Map.keys(dict)), fn x ->
      :io.format "Line ~2w selected: ~6w~n", [x, dict[x]]
    end)
  end
  
  def one_of_n( n ), do: loop( n, 2, :rand.uniform, 1 )
  
  def loop( max, n, _random, acc ) when n == max + 1, do: acc
  def loop( max, n, random, _acc ) when random < (1/n), do: loop( max, n + 1, :rand.uniform, n )
  def loop( max, n, _random, acc ), do: loop( max, n + 1, :rand.uniform, acc )
end

One_of_n_lines_in_file.task
Output:
Line  1 selected: 100327
Line  2 selected:  99858
Line  3 selected: 100292
Line  4 selected:  99992
Line  5 selected: 100138
Line  6 selected:  99807
Line  7 selected:  99982
Line  8 selected: 100065
Line  9 selected:  99765
Line 10 selected:  99774

Erlang

-module( one_of_n_lines_in_file  ).

-export( [one_of_n/1, task/0] ).

one_of_n( N ) -> loop( N, 2, random:uniform(), 1 ).

task() ->
	Dict = lists:foldl( fun update_counter/2,  dict:new(), lists:seq(1, 1000000) ),
	[io:fwrite("Line ~p selected: ~p~n", [X, dict:fetch(X, Dict)]) || X <- lists:sort(dict:fetch_keys(Dict))].


loop( Max, N, _Random, Acc ) when N =:= Max + 1 -> Acc;
loop( Max, N, Random, _Acc ) when Random < (1/N) -> loop( Max, N + 1, random:uniform(), N );
loop( Max, N, _Random, Acc ) -> loop( Max, N + 1, random:uniform(), Acc ).

update_counter( _N, Dict ) -> dict:update_counter( one_of_n(10), 1, Dict ).
Output:
74> one_of_n_lines_in_file:task().
Line 1 selected: 100038
Line 2 selected: 99849
Line 3 selected: 99851
Line 4 selected: 99661
Line 5 selected: 100326
Line 6 selected: 100485
Line 7 selected: 99760
Line 8 selected: 99920
Line 9 selected: 100129
Line 10 selected: 99981

ERRE

PROGRAM ONE_OF_N

DIM CNT[10]

PROCEDURE ONE_OF_N(N->L)
  LOCAL I
  FOR I=1 TO N DO
     IF RND(1)<=1.0/I THEN L=I END IF
  END FOR
END PROCEDURE

BEGIN
  N=10
  RANDOMIZE(TIMER)       ! init
  FOR TEST=1 TO 1000000 DO
     ONE_OF_N(N->L)
     CNT[L]+=1
  END FOR
  FOR I=1 TO N DO
     PRINT(CNT[I];)
  END FOR
  PRINT
END PROGRAM
Output:
 99864  99893  99973  100016  100097  100169  100561  99804  100006  99617

Euphoria

--  One of n lines in a file
include std/rand.e
include std/math.e

function one_of_n(integer n)
	integer line_num = 1
	for i = 2 to n do
		if rnd() < 1 / i then
			line_num = i
		end if
	end for
	return line_num
end function

procedure main()
	integer num_reps = 1000000, num_lines_in_file = 10
	sequence lines = repeat(0,num_lines_in_file)
	for i = 1 to num_reps do
		lines[one_of_n(num_lines_in_file)] += 1
	end for
	for i = 1 to num_lines_in_file do
		printf(1,"Number of times line %d was selected: %g\n", {i,lines[i]})
	end for
	printf(1,"Total number selected: %d\n", sum(lines) )
end procedure

main()

Sample Output:

Number of times line 1 was selected: 100154
Number of times line 2 was selected: 99778
Number of times line 3 was selected: 99906
Number of times line 4 was selected: 99727
Number of times line 5 was selected: 100025
Number of times line 6 was selected: 100465
Number of times line 7 was selected: 99738
Number of times line 8 was selected: 100135
Number of times line 9 was selected: 99871
Number of times line 10 was selected: 100201
Total number selected: 1000000

F#

open System

[<EntryPoint>]
let main args =
    let rnd = new Random()

    let one_of_n n =
        let rec loop i r =
            if i >= n then r else
                if rnd.Next(i + 1) = 0
                then loop (i + 1) i
                else loop (i + 1) r
        loop 1 0

    let test n trials =
        let ar = Array.zeroCreate n
        for i = 1 to trials do
            let d = one_of_n n
            ar.[d] <- 1 + ar.[d]
        Console.WriteLine (String.Join(" ", ar))
 
    test 10 1000000
    0

Output

99721 100325 99939 99579 100174 100296 99858 99910 100192 100006

Factor

random-line uses an input stream. "/etc/passwd" ascii [ random-line . ] with-file-reader would print a random line from /etc/passwd.

! rosettacode/random-line/random-line.factor
USING: io kernel locals math random ;
IN: rosettacode.random-line

:: random-line ( -- line )
    readln :> choice! 1 :> count!
    [ readln dup ]
    [ count 1 + dup count! random zero?
        [ choice! ] [ drop ] if
    ] while drop
    choice ;

one-of-n wants to use the same algorithm. Factor has duck typing, so one-of-n creates a mock object that quacks like an input stream. This mock object only responds to stream-readln, not the other methods of stream protocol. This works because random-line only needs stream-readln. The mock response is a line number instead of a real line.

! rosettacode/one-of-n/one-of-n.factor
USING: accessors io kernel math rosettacode.random-line ;
IN: rosettacode.one-of-n

<PRIVATE
TUPLE: mock-stream count last ;
: <mock-stream> ( n -- stream )
    mock-stream new 0 >>count swap >>last ;
M: mock-stream stream-readln ! stream -- line
    dup [ count>> ] [ last>> ] bi <
    [ [ 1 + ] change-count count>> ]
    [ drop f ] if ;
PRIVATE>

: one-of-n ( n -- line )
    <mock-stream> [ random-line ] with-input-stream* ;

USING: assocs formatting locals sequences sorting ;
<PRIVATE
: f>0 ( object/f -- object/0 )
    dup [ drop 0 ] unless ;
:: test-one-of-n ( -- )
    H{ } clone :> chosen
    1000000 [
        10 one-of-n chosen [ f>0 1 + ] change-at
    ] times
    chosen keys natural-sort [
        dup chosen at "%d chosen %d times\n" printf
    ] each ;
PRIVATE>
MAIN: test-one-of-n
$ ./factor -run=rosettacode.one-of-n 
Loading resource:work/rosettacode/one-of-n/one-of-n.factor
Loading resource:work/rosettacode/random-line/random-line.factor
Loading resource:basis/formatting/formatting.factor
Loading resource:basis/formatting/formatting-docs.factor
1 chosen 100497 times
2 chosen 100157 times
3 chosen 100207 times
4 chosen 99448 times
5 chosen 100533 times
6 chosen 99774 times
7 chosen 99535 times
8 chosen 99826 times
9 chosen 100058 times
10 chosen 99965 times

Forth

Works with: GNU Forth
for random.fs and 1/f
require random.fs

: frnd
   rnd 0 d>f [ s" MAX-U" environment? drop 0 d>f 1/f ] fliteral f* ;
: u>f 0 d>f ;
: one_of_n ( u1 -- u2 )
   1 swap  1+ 2 ?do  frnd  i u>f 1/f  f<  if drop i then  loop ;

create hist 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ,  does> swap cells + ;
: simulate  1000000 0 do  1  10 one_of_n 1- hist  +!  loop ;
: .hist  cr 10 0 do  i 1+ 2 .r ." : "  i hist @ .  cr loop ;

simulate .hist bye
Output:
> gforthamd64 rosetta_one_of_n.fs

 1: 99381
 2: 99970
 3: 99793
 4: 100035
 5: 100195
 6: 100147
 7: 99583
 8: 100135
 9: 100309
10: 100452

Fortran

Task description is contradictory in that it states number of lines in file is unknown, and then that it is passed in as "n", and exercise seems to be to simulate instead of actually perform the file reads; but (at least when using Fortran, even on an old laptop) it only takes a few seconds to run the 1 000 000, cases so actually ran them.

!> read lines one at a time and randomly choose one
!! using a Reservoir Sampling algorithm:
!! http://www.rosettacode.org/wiki/One_of_n_lines_in_a_file
program reservoir_sample
use, intrinsic :: iso_fortran_env, only : dp=>real64
implicit none
character(len=256)   :: line
integer              :: lun, n, i, count(10)
   call random_seed()
   !! create test file
   open(file='_data.txt',newunit=lun)
   do i=1,10
      write(lun,'(*(g0))')'test line ',i
   enddo
   !! run once and show result
   call one_of_n(line,n)
   write(*,'(i10,":",a)')n,trim(line)
   !! run 1 000 000, times on ten-line test file
   count=0
   do i=1,1000000
      call one_of_n(line,n)
      if(n.gt.0.and.n.le.10)then
         count(n)=count(n)+1
      else
         write(*,*)'<ERROR>'
      endif
   enddo
   write(*,*)count
   write(*,*)count-100000
contains
subroutine one_of_n(line,n)
character(len=256),intent(out) :: line
integer,intent(out)            :: n
real(kind=dp)                  :: rand_val
integer                        :: ios, ilines
   line=''
   ios=0
   ilines=1
   n=0
   rewind(lun)
   do
      call random_number(rand_val)
      if( rand_val < 1.0d0/(ilines) )then
         read(lun,'(a)',iostat=ios)line
         if(ios/=0)exit
         n=ilines
      else
         read(lun,'(a)',iostat=ios)
         if(ios/=0)exit
      endif
      ilines=ilines+1
   enddo
end subroutine one_of_n
end program reservoir_sample
}
Output:
 time fpm run --compiler gfortran
   100112  99672  99928 100707  99612 100086 100628  99645  99676  99934
      112   -328    -72    707   -388     86    628   -355   -324    -66

   real    0m7.281s
   user    0m5.812s
   sys     0m1.465s

FreeBASIC

Declare Function one_of_n (n As Long) As Long

Dim As Long L0, c, elegido(1 To 10)

Function one_of_n (n As Long) As Long

    'asume que la primera línea es 1
    Dim As Long L1, opcion
    For L1 = 1 To n
        If Int(Rnd * L1) = 0 Then opcion = L1
    Next L1
    one_of_n = opcion
End Function

Randomize Timer

For L0 = 1 To 1000000
    c = one_of_n(10)
    elegido(c) += 1
Next L0

For L0 = 1 To 10
    Print Using "##. #######"; L0; elegido(L0)
Next L0

Sleep


Go

package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "math/rand"
    "time"
)

// choseLineRandomly implements the method described in the task.
// input is a an io.Reader, which could be an os.File, for example.
// Or, to implement a simulation, it could be anything else that implements
// io.Reader.  The method as described suggests saving and returning
// lines, but the rest of the task requires line numbers.  This function
// thus returns both.
func choseLineRandomly(r io.Reader) (s string, ln int, err error) {
    br := bufio.NewReader(r)
    s, err = br.ReadString('\n')
    if err != nil {
        return
    }
    ln = 1
    lnLast := 1.
    var sLast string
    for {
        // note bufio.ReadString used here.  This effectively defines a
        // line of the file as zero or more bytes followed by a newline.
        sLast, err = br.ReadString('\n')
        if err == io.EOF {
            return s, ln, nil // normal return
        }
        if err != nil {
            break
        }
        lnLast++
        if rand.Float64() < 1/lnLast {
            s = sLast
            ln = int(lnLast)
        }
    }
    return // error return
}

// oneOfN function required for task item 1.  Specified to take a number
// n, the number of lines in a file, but the method (above) specified to
// to be used does not need n, but rather the file itself.  This function
// thus takes both, ignoring n and passing the file to choseLineRandomly.
func oneOfN(n int, file io.Reader) int {
    _, ln, err := choseLineRandomly(file)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    return ln
}

// simulated file reader for task item 2
type simReader int

func (r *simReader) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
    if *r <= 0 {
        return 0, io.EOF
    }
    b[0] = '\n'
    *r--
    return 1, nil
}

func main() {
    // task item 2 simulation consists of accumulating frequency statistic
    // on 1,000,000 calls of oneOfN on simulated file.
    n := 10
    freq := make([]int, n)
    rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
    for times := 0; times < 1e6; times++ {
        sr := simReader(n)
        freq[oneOfN(n, &sr)-1]++
    }

    // task item 3.  show frequencies.
    fmt.Println(freq)
}

Output:

[99945 99770 99594 100532 99941 100223 99716 100217 99855 100207]

Haskell

The function selItem will operate on any list, whether a lazy list of strings from a file or a list of numbers, as in the test.

import qualified Data.Map as M
import System.Random
import Data.List
import Control.Monad
import System.Environment

testFile = [1..10]

selItem g xs = foldl' f (head xs, 1, 2, g) $ tail xs
    where f :: RandomGen a => (b, Int, Int, a) -> b -> (b, Int, Int, a)
          f (c, cn, n, gen) l | v == 1    = (l, n, n+1, ngen)
                              | otherwise = (c, cn, n+1, ngen)
            where (v, ngen) = randomR (1, n) gen

oneOfN a = do
            g <- newStdGen
            let (r, _, _, _) = selItem g a
            return r

test = do
        x <- replicateM 1000000 (oneOfN testFile)
        let f m l = M.insertWith (+) l 1 m
        let results = foldl' f M.empty x
        forM_ (M.toList results) $ \(x, y) -> putStrLn $ "Line number " ++ show x ++ 
								 " had count :" ++ show y

main = do
        a <- getArgs
        g <- newStdGen
        if null a then test
                  else putStrLn.(\(l, n, _, _) -> "Line " ++
                               show n ++ ": " ++ l)
                       .selItem g.lines =<< (readFile $ head a)

Running without any args runs the test:

$ ./oneofn
Line number 1 had count :99887
Line number 2 had count :99739
Line number 3 had count :99749
Line number 4 had count :100689
Line number 5 had count :100126
Line number 6 had count :99986
Line number 7 had count :100699
Line number 8 had count :99569
Line number 9 had count :99121
Line number 10 had count :100435

Running with a filename argument prints the line number and the line to stdin:

$ ./oneofn test.txt 
Line 6.0: This is line 6

Icon and Unicon

Translation of: Python
procedure main() # one of n
   one_of_n_test(10,1000000)
end
 
procedure one_of_n(n)
   every i := 1 to n do 
      choice := (?0  < 1. / i, i)
   return \choice | fail
end
 
procedure one_of_n_test(n,trials)
   bins := table(0)
   every i := 1 to trials do
         bins[one_of_n(n)] +:= 1
   every writes(bins[i := 1 to n]," ")
   return bins
end
Sample output:
99470 99806 99757 99921 100213 100001 99778 100385 100081 100588

J

This implementation also implements line buffering, since the built-in line handling does not work quite how I want it to work. That said, if a line is too large (many gigabytes, for example), the system will crawl to a halt when the line is read.

randLineBig=:3 :0
  file=. boxopen y
  r=. ''
  n=. 1
  size=. fsize file
  blocksize=. 1e7
  buffer=. ''
  for_block. |: blocksize -~/\@(] <. [ * 0 1 +/i.@>.@%~) size do.
    buffer=. buffer, fread file,<block
    linends=. LF = buffer
    lines=. linends <;.2 buffer
    buffer=. buffer }.~ {: 1+I.linends
    pick=. (0 ?@$~ #lines) < % n+i.#lines
    if. 1 e. pick do.
      r=. ({:I.pick) {:: lines
    end.
    n=. n+#lines
  end.
  r
)

Usage: randLineBig 'filename'

Testing:

   (,LF,.~":,.i.10) fwrite <'seq.txt'
20
   (#;~.)/.~ /:~ <@randLineBig"0]1e6#<'seq.txt'
┌──────┬───┐
99916 0  
├──────┼───┤
99944 1  
├──────┼───┤
1002502  
├──────┼───┤
1006213  
├──────┼───┤
99594 4  
├──────┼───┤
1001065  
├──────┼───┤
99957 6  
├──────┼───┤
99975 7  
├──────┼───┤
1000548  
├──────┼───┤
99583 9  
└──────┴───┘

Java

Translation of: Python
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Random;

public class OneOfNLines {

	static Random rand;
	
	public static int oneOfN(int n) {
		int choice = 0;
		
		for(int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
			if(rand.nextInt(i+1) == 0)
				choice = i;
		}
		
		return choice;
	}
	
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int n = 10;
		int trials = 1000000;
		int[] bins = new int[n];
		rand = new Random();
		
		for(int i = 0; i < trials; i++)
			bins[oneOfN(n)]++;
		
		
		System.out.println(Arrays.toString(bins));
	}
}

Sample output:

[99832, 99958, 100281, 99601, 99568, 99689, 100118, 99753, 100659, 100541]

jq

Translation of: Wren
Works with: jq

Since jq does not have a built-in PRNG, this entry assumes the availability of an external source of entropy such as /dev/random. The output shown below is from a run of the following:

export LC_ALL=C
< /dev/random tr -cd '0-9' | fold -w 4 | jq -Mnr -f program.jq

program.jq

# oneOfN presupposes an unbounded stream 
# of 4-digit PRNs uniformly distributed on [0-9999]
def oneOfN:
  reduce range(2; 1+.) as $i (1;
    if (input / 10000) < (1/$i) then $i else . end);
 
def n: 10;
def repetitions: 1e6;

( reduce range(0; repetitions) as $i (null;
    (n|oneOfN) as $num
    | .[$num-1] += 1 )) as $freqs
|  range(1; 1+n) | "Line\(.) \($freqs[.-1] )"
Output:
Line1 99745
Line2 100351
Line3 99805
Line4 100240
Line5 100155
Line6 99525
Line7 100182
Line8 99738
Line9 100360
Line10 99899


Julia

const N = 10
const GOAL = 10^6

function oneofn{T<:Integer}(n::T)
    0 < n || error("n = ", n, ", but it should be positive.")
    oon = 1
    for i in 2:n
        rand(1:i) == 1 || continue
        oon = i
    end
    return oon
end

nhist = zeros(Int, N)
for i in 1:GOAL
    nhist[oneofn(N)] += 1
end

println("Simulating oneofn(", N, ") ", GOAL, " times:")
for i in 1:N
    println(@sprintf "   %2d => %6d" i nhist[i])
end
Output:
Simulating oneofn(10) 1000000 times:
    1 =>  99759
    2 =>  99933
    3 => 100052
    4 =>  99893
    5 => 100489
    6 =>  99727
    7 => 100114
    8 => 100116
    9 => 100139
   10 =>  99778

Kotlin

// version 1.1.51

import java.util.Random

val r = Random()

fun oneOfN(n: Int): Int {
    var choice = 1
    for (i in 2..n) {
        if (r.nextDouble() < 1.0 / i) choice = i
    }
    return choice
}

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    val n = 10
    val freqs = IntArray(n)
    val reps = 1_000_000
    repeat(reps) {
        val num = oneOfN(n)
        freqs[num - 1]++
    }
    for (i in 1..n) println("Line ${"%-2d".format(i)} = ${freqs[i - 1]}")
}

Sample output:

Line 1  = 100363
Line 2  = 99669
Line 3  = 100247
Line 4  = 100248
Line 5  = 100401
Line 6  = 99457
Line 7  = 100015
Line 8  = 100215
Line 9  = 99920
Line 10 = 99465

Liberty BASIC

DIM chosen(10)

FOR i = 1 TO 10000'00
    c = oneofN(10)
    chosen(c) = chosen(c) + 1
NEXT

FOR i = 1 TO 10
    PRINT i, chosen(i)
NEXT

end

FUNCTION oneofN(n)
    FOR i = 1 TO n
        IF RND(1) < 1/i THEN oneofN = i
    NEXT
END FUNCTION
Output:
1             1008
2             934
3             1009
4             1012
5             981
6             1013
7             1015
8             986
9             1002
10            1040

Lua

math.randomseed(os.time())

local n = 10
local trials = 1000000

function one(n)
    local chosen = 1
    for i = 1, n do
        if math.random() < 1/i then
            chosen = i
        end
    end
    
    return chosen
end

-- 0 filled table for storing results
local results = {}
for i = 1, n do results[i] = 0 end

-- run simulation
for i = 1, trials do
    local result = one(n)
    results[result] = results[result] + 1
end

print("Value","Occurrences")
print("-------------------")
for k, v in ipairs(results) do
    print(k,v)
end
Output:
Value   Occurrences
-------------------
1       99393
2       100092
3       100412
4       100139
5       99773
6       99802
7       100020
8       99941
9       100063
10      100365

Maple

with(RandomTools[MersenneTwister]);
one_of_n_lines_in_a_file := proc(fn)
	local fid, N, n, L, l, line;
	fid := fopen(fn,'READ');
	if fid<0 then
		return; 
	end if; 
	N := 0; 
	n := 1;
	while not feof(fid) do
		N := N+1;
		L := FileTools[Text][ReadLine](fid);
		if (N*GenerateFloat() < 1) then
			n := N;		
			line := L;
		end if;
	end do; 
	fclose(fid);
	return(n);
end proc;

Mathematica/Wolfram Language

chooseLine[file_] := Block[{strm = OpenRead[file], n = 1, rec, selected},
  					     rec = selected = Read[strm];
  					     While[rec =!= EndOfFile, 
                                                    rec=Read[strm];
                                                    n++; 
                                                    If[RandomReal[] < 1/n, selected = rec]];
                                             Close[strm];
                                             selected]

MATLAB / Octave

function [n,line] = one_of_n_lines_in_a_file(fn)
fid = fopen(fn,'r');
if fid<0, return; end; 
N = 0; 
n = 1;
while ~feof(fid)
	N = N+1;
	L = fgetl(fid);
	if (N*rand() < 1)
		n = N;		
		line = L;
	end; 
end
fclose(fid);

test

x=zeros(1,10); 
for k = 1:1e6;
  n = one_of_n_lines_in_a_file('f1');
  x(n) = x(n) + 1;
end; 
[1:10;x]
        1        2        3        4        5        6        7        8        9       10
   105973   105715   106182   106213   105443   105255   106048   105999   105366   106070

Nim

import random
randomize()

proc oneOfN(n: int): int =
  result = 0
  for x in 0 ..< n:
    if random(x) == 0:
      result = x

proc oneOfNTest(n = 10, trials = 1_000_000): seq[int] =
  result = newSeq[int](n)
  if n > 0:
    for i in 1..trials:
      inc result[oneOfN(n)]

echo oneOfNTest()
Output:
@[100454, 100110, 99882, 99733, 100171, 99724, 100111, 99874, 100159, 99782]

OCaml

let one_of_n n =
  let rec aux i r =
    if i >= n then r else
      if Random.int (i + 1) = 0
      then aux (succ i) i
      else aux (succ i) r
  in
  aux 1 0

let test ~n ~trials =
  let ar = Array.make n 0 in
  for i = 1 to trials do
    let d = one_of_n n in
    ar.(d) <- succ ar.(d)
  done;
  Array.iter (Printf.printf " %d") ar;
  print_newline ()

let () =
  Random.self_init ();
  test ~n:10 ~trials:1_000_000

Executing:

$ ocamlopt -o one.opt one.ml
$ ./one.opt 
 100620 99719 99928 99864 99760 100151 99553 100529 99800 100076

PARI/GP

gp can't read individual lines from a file (PARI would be needed for that) but it can do the simulation easily. The random() function produces high-quality pseudorandom numbers (via Brent's XORGEN) so the output passes a chi-square test easily (p = 0.848).

one_of_n(n)={
  my(chosen=1);
  for(k=2,n,
    if(random(k)==0, chosen=k)
  );
  chosen;
}
v=vector(10); for(i=1,1e6, v[one_of_n(10)]++); v
Output:
%1 = [99933, 100021, 100125, 100071, 99876, 99485, 100108, 100183, 99861, 100337]

Pascal

Works with: Free_Pascal
Program OneOfNLines (Output);

{$IFDEF FPC}
  {$MODE DELPHI}
{$ENDIF}

function one_of_n(n: longint): longint;
  var
    i: longint;
  begin
    one_of_n := 1;
    for i := 2 to n do
      if random < 1.0 / i then
	one_of_n := i;
  end;
 
function sum(a: array of longint): longint;
  var
    i: integer;
  begin
    Result := 0;
    for i := low(a) to high(a) do
       Result := Result + a[i];
  end;

const
  num_reps = 1000000;
  num_lines_in_file = 10;

var
  lines: array[1..num_reps] of longint;
  i: longint;

begin
  randomize;
  for i := 1 to num_reps do
    lines[i] := 0;
  for i := 1 to num_reps do
    inc(lines[one_of_n(num_lines_in_file)]);
  for i := 1 to num_lines_in_file do
    writeln('Number of times line ', i, ' was selected: ', lines[i]);
  writeln('Total number selected: ', sum(lines));
end.

Output:

% ./OneOfNLines
Number of times line 1 was selected: 100388
Number of times line 2 was selected: 100206
Number of times line 3 was selected: 100427
Number of times line 4 was selected: 100092
Number of times line 5 was selected: 99951
Number of times line 6 was selected: 100114
Number of times line 7 was selected: 99518
Number of times line 8 was selected: 99900
Number of times line 9 was selected: 99967
Number of times line 10 was selected: 99437
Total number selected: 1000000

using int-random

int-random needn't the calculation of (1.0 /i).That is 3-times faster.I implemented the use of reading a random line of a textfile as discribed.In that case, there is no need to use the functoin one_of_n .

Program OneOfNLines(InPut,Output);
{$h+} //use Ansistring
{type
  NativeInt = LongInt;}

function one_of_n(n: NativeInt): NativeInt;
  var
    ch,i: LongInt;// doubles speed of random using 64-Bit :-(
  begin
    ch := 1;
    for i := 2 to n do
      if random(i) = 0 then
        ch := i;
    one_of_n := ch;
  end;

function ChooseRNDLine(          fileNm : string;
                       var LnChsn,LnCnt :NativeInt):string;
var
  choosen,
  n : NativeInt;
  f : textFile;
  actRow,
  chsnRow: string;
  buf : array[0..4095] of char;// speed things up
begin
  n:= 0;
  choosen := n;
  chsnRow := '';

  Assign(f,fileNm);
  {$I-}
  Reset(f);
  {$I+}
  IF IoResult <> 0 then
     close(f)
  else
  Begin
    SetTextBuf(f,Buf[0]);

    while Not(EOF(f)) do
    Begin
      readln(f,actRow);
      inc(n);
      IF Random(n)= 0 then
      begin
        chsnRow:= actRow;
        choosen := n;
      end;
    end;
    close(f);
  end;

  LnChsn := choosen;
  LnCnt := n;
  ChooseRNDLine := chsnRow;
end;

const
  cFn = 'OneOfNLines.s';// compiled with -al assembler output
  num_reps = 1000000;
  num_lines_in_file = 10;

var
  Ln    : String;
  LnChsn,
  LnCnt,
  i     : NativeInt;
  cntLns: array[1..num_lines_in_file] of NativeUint;
begin
  randomize;
  Ln := ChooseRNDLine(cFn,LnChsn,LnCnt);
  writeln('choosen ', LnChsn,' out of ',LnCnt );
  writeln(Ln);writeln;

  FillChar(cntLns,SizeOf(cntLns),#0);
  for i := 1 to num_reps do
    inc(cntLns[one_of_n(num_lines_in_file)]);
  for i := 1 to num_lines_in_file do
    writeln('Number of times line ', i, ' was selected: ', cntLns[i]);

  LnCnt := 0;
  For i := Low(cntLns) to High(cntLns) do
    inc(LnCnt,cntLns[i]);
  writeln('Total number selected: ', LnCnt);
end.
Output
time ./OneOfNLines
choosen 463 out of 667
.section .data.n_INITFINAL

rest like above:
Number of times line 1 was selected: 99891
....
Number of times line 10 was selected: 99523
Total number selected: 1000000

real  0m0.086s

Perl

#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

sub one_of_n {
    my $n = shift;
    my $return = 1;
    for my $line (2 .. $n) {
        $return = $line if 1 > rand $line;
    }
    return $return;
}

my $repeat = 1_000_000;
my $size   = 10;

my @freq;
++$freq[ one_of_n($size) - 1 ] for 1 .. $repeat;
print "@freq\n";

Phix

with javascript_semantics 
function one_of_n(integer n)
    integer line_num = 1
    for i=2 to n do
        if rnd()<1/i then
            line_num = i
        end if
    end for
    return line_num
end function
 
sequence counts = repeat(0,10)
for i=1 to 1000000 do
    integer cdx = one_of_n(10)
    counts[cdx] += 1
end for
?counts
Output:
{99998,100223,99972,100323,100174,99663,99593,100141,99866,100047}

PicoLisp

(de one-of-n (N)
   (let R 1
      (for I N
         (when (= 1 (rand 1 I))
            (setq R I) ) )
      R ) )

(let L (need 10 0)
   (do 1000000
      (inc (nth L (one-of-n 10))) )
   L )

Output:

-> (99893 100145 99532 100400 100263 100229 99732 100116 99709 99981)

PowerShell

Translation of: C#

function Get-OneOfN ([int]$Number)
{
    $current = 1

    for ($i = 2; $i -le $Number; $i++)
    { 
        $limit = 1 / $i

        if ((Get-Random -Minimum 0.0 -Maximum 1.0) -lt $limit)
        {
            $current = $i
        }
    }

    $current
}


$table = [ordered]@{}

for ($i = 1; $i -lt 11; $i++)
{ 
    $table.Add(("Line {0,2}" -f $i), 0)
}

for ($i = 0; $i -lt 1000000; $i++)
{ 
    $index = (Get-OneOfN -Number 10) - 1
    $table[$index] = $table[$index] + 1
}

[PSCustomObject]$table
Output:
Line  1 : 99928
Line  2 : 100067
Line  3 : 100415
Line  4 : 100133
Line  5 : 100555
Line  6 : 99845
Line  7 : 99625
Line  8 : 99968
Line  9 : 99864
Line 10 : 99600

The above version runs in ~650 seconds, because of the large overhead of calling PowerShell functions and binding their parameters. With a small change to move the function into a class method, the parameter binding becomes faster, and swapping Get-Random for System.Random, the overall code runtime drops to ~20 seconds. Changing the ordered hashtable to a Generic Dictionary reduces it again to ~15 seconds:

class Holder {
    [System.Random]$rng

    Holder()
    {
        $this.rng = [System.Random]::new()
    }

    [int] GetOneOfN([int]$Number)
    {
        $current = 1
 
        for ($i = 2; $i -le $Number; $i++)
        { 
            $limit = 1 / $i
 
            if ($this.rng.NextDouble() -lt $limit)
            {
                $current = $i
            }
        }
 
        return $current
    }
}
 

$table = [Collections.Generic.Dictionary[int, int]]::new()
$X = [Holder]::new()

1..10 | ForEach-Object { 
    $table.Add($_, 0)
}
 
for ($i = 0; $i -lt 1e6; $i++)
{ 
    $index = $X.GetOneOfN(10) - 1
    $table[$index] += 1
}
 
[PSCustomObject]$table

PureBasic

Procedure.f randomFloat()
   ProcedureReturn Random(1000000) / 1000000
EndProcedure

Procedure one_of_n(n)
  Protected linesRead, lineChosen
  While linesRead < n 
    linesRead + 1
    If randomFloat() <= (1.0 / (linesRead))
       lineChosen = linesRead
    EndIf
  Wend
  ProcedureReturn lineChosen
EndProcedure

If OpenConsole()
  #testFileLineCount = 10
  #simulationCount = 1000000
  Define i
  Dim a(#testFileLineCount) ;index 0 is not used
  For i = 1 To #simulationCount
    x = one_of_n(#testFileLineCount)
    a(x) + 1
  Next
  
  For i = 1 To #testFileLineCount
    Print(Str(a(i)) + "  ")
  Next
  PrintN("")
  
  Print(#CRLF$ + #CRLF$ + "Press ENTER to exit"): Input()
  CloseConsole()
EndIf

Sample output:

99959  100011  100682  100060  99834  99632  100083  99817  99824  100098

Python

To be more in line with the spirit of the problem, one_of_n will take the "lines" as an iterator, guaranteeing that it only traverses the lines one time, and does not know the length until the end.

from random import randrange
try:
    range = xrange
except: pass

def one_of_n(lines): # lines is any iterable
    choice = None
    for i, line in enumerate(lines):
        if randrange(i+1) == 0:
            choice = line
    return choice
            
def one_of_n_test(n=10, trials=1000000):
    bins = [0] * n
    if n:
        for i in range(trials):
            bins[one_of_n(range(n))] += 1
    return bins

print(one_of_n_test())
Sample output
[99833, 100303, 99902, 100132, 99608, 100117, 99531, 100017, 99795, 100762]

R

one_of_n <- function(n)
{
  choice <- 1L
  
  for (i in 2:n)
  {
    if (i*runif(1) < 1)
      choice <- i
  }
  
  return(choice)
}

table(sapply(1:1000000, function(i) one_of_n(10)))

Sample output:

     1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9     10 
 99783  99776 100214 100342 100342  99771 100394 100176  99486  99716 

Racket

#lang racket

(define (one-of-n n)
  (for/fold ([n 0]) ([i (in-range 1 n)])
    (if (zero? (random (add1 i))) i n)))

(define (try n times)
  (define rs (make-vector n 0))
  (for ([i (in-range times)])
    (define r (one-of-n n))
    (vector-set! rs r (add1 (vector-ref rs r))))
  (vector->list rs))

(define TIMES 1000000)
(for ([n (in-range 1 21)])
  (define rs (try n TIMES))
  (printf "~a: ~a\n    ~a\n" (~a #:width 2 n) rs
          (map (lambda (r) (~a (round (/ r TIMES 1/100)) "%")) rs)))

#| Sample Run:

1 : (1000000)
    (100%)
2 : (499702 500298)
    (50% 50%)
3 : (332426 333314 334260)
    (33% 33% 33%)
4 : (249925 250083 249695 250297)
    (25% 25% 25% 25%)
5 : (200304 199798 199920 199983 199995)
    (20% 20% 20% 20% 20%)
6 : (166276 167085 165955 166792 167143 166749)
    (17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%)
7 : (142067 143242 142749 142997 143248 142746 142951)
    (14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14%)
8 : (125026 125187 125214 124770 124785 125141 125039 124838)
    (13% 13% 13% 12% 12% 13% 13% 12%)
9 : (111551 111013 110741 111292 111105 110627 110570 111685 111416)
    (11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11%)
10: (100322 100031 100176 100590 99799 99892 100305 99955 99493 99437)
    (10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%)
11: (91237 90706 90962 90901 90872 91002 91164 90967 90092 90706 91391)
    (9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9%)
12: (83046 83556 83003 84128 83264 83305 83093 83202 83430 83605 83276 83092)
    (8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8%)
13: (77282 76936 76667 76659 76771 76736 77165 77190 77341 76469 76985 76942 76857)
    (8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8%)
14: (71389 71496 71141 71314 71670 72062 71979 71361 71198 71457 70854 71686 71300 71093)
    (7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7%)
15: (66534 66571 66072 66977 66803 66894 67076 66409 66306 67222 66590 66780 66341 66680 66745)
    (7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7%)
16: (62155 62496 62846 62136 62447 62714 62228 62454 62527 62577 62775 62692 62491 62231 62460 62771)
    (6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6%)
17: (58852 59046 58726 58782 58979 58725 59051 58935 58910 59082 58567 58863 58625 58922 58648 58456 58831)
    (6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6%)
18: (55204 55683 55547 55492 55671 55467 55801 55704 55235 55411 55482 55387 55679 55557 55398 55649 55815 55818)
    (6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6%)
19: (52564 52283 52918 52363 52316 52511 52500 53042 52594 52720 52577 52623 52762 53047 52798 52832 52267 52550 52733)
    (5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%)
20: (50107 50008 49786 50128 50431 49905 50109 49781 50099 50117 49772 50128 49721 49937 49735 50067 49865 50155 50231 49918)
    (5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%)

|#

Raku

(formerly Perl 6)

Translation of: Python
sub one_of_n($n) {
    my $choice;
    $choice = $_ if .rand < 1 for 1 .. $n;
    $choice - 1;
}

sub one_of_n_test($n = 10, $trials = 1_000_000) {
    my @bins;
    @bins[one_of_n($n)]++ for ^$trials;
    @bins;
}

say one_of_n_test();

Output:

100288 100047 99660 99773 100256 99633 100161 100483 99789 99910

REXX

/*REXX program simulates reading a  ten─line  file,  count the selection randomness.    */
N= 10                                            /*the number of lines in pseudo-file.  */
@.= 0                                            /*zero  all  the (ten)  "buckets".     */
      do 1000000                                 /*perform main loop  one million times.*/
      ?= 1
                    do k=1  for N                /*N  is the number of lines in the file*/
                    if random(0, 99999) / 100000  <  1/k  then ?= k      /*the criteria.*/
                    end   /*k*/
      @.?= @.? + 1                               /*bump the count in a particular bucket*/
      end                 /*1000000*/

   do j=1  for N                                 /*display randomness counts (buckets). */
   say "number of times line"       right(j, 2)       "was selected:"       right(@.j, 9)
   end   /*j*/                                   /*stick a fork in it,  we're all done. */
output   when using the internal default input:
number of times line  1 was selected:     99752
number of times line  2 was selected:    100060
number of times line  3 was selected:     99996
number of times line  4 was selected:    100023
number of times line  5 was selected:    100028
number of times line  6 was selected:    100262
number of times line  7 was selected:    100755
number of times line  8 was selected:     99794
number of times line  9 was selected:     99539
number of times line 10 was selected:     99791

Ring

cnt = list(10)
for nr = 1 to 10000
    cnt[oneofn(10)] += 1
next
for m = 1 to 10
    see "" + m + " : " + cnt[m] + nl
next
see nl
 
func oneofn n
for i = 1 to n
    if random(1) <= 1/i d = i ok
next
return d
1 : 15
2 : 12
3 : 37
4 : 74
5 : 158
6 : 323
7 : 646
8 : 1233
9 : 2506
10 : 4996

Ruby

# Returns a random line from _io_, or nil if _io_ has no lines.
#  # Get a random line from /etc/passwd
#  line = open("/etc/passwd") {|f| random_line(f) }
def random_line(io)
  choice = io.gets; count = 1
  while line = io.gets
    rand(count += 1).zero? and choice = line
  end
  choice
end

def one_of_n(n)
  # Create a mock IO that provides line numbers instead of lines.
  # Assumes that #random_line calls #gets.
  (mock_io = Object.new).instance_eval do
    @count = 0
    @last = n
    def self.gets
      (@count < @last) ? (@count += 1) : nil
    end
  end
  random_line(mock_io)
end

chosen = Hash.new(0)
1_000_000.times { chosen[one_of_n(10)] += 1 }
chosen.keys.sort.each do |key|
  puts "#{key} chosen #{chosen[key]} times"
end
$ ruby one-of-n.rb 
1 chosen 100470 times
2 chosen 100172 times
3 chosen 100473 times
4 chosen 99725 times
5 chosen 100600 times
6 chosen 99126 times
7 chosen 100297 times
8 chosen 99606 times
9 chosen 100039 times
10 chosen 99492 times

Run BASIC

for i1 = 1 to 1000000
    c = oneOfN(10)
    chosen(c) = chosen(c) + 1
next
 
for i1 = 1 to 10
    print i1;" ";chosen(i1)
next
 
FUNCTION oneOfN(n)
    for i2 = 1 to n
        IF int(rnd(1) * i2) = 0 then choice = i2
    next
    oneOfN = choice
END FUNCTION
Output:
1 99034
2 98462
3 98741
4 100256
5 100449
6 100758
7 100206
8 100982
9 100520
10 100592

Rust

Library: rand

You could also use `rand::seq::sample_iter` which uses a more general version of this problem, Reservoir Sampling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir_sampling.

extern crate rand;

use rand::{Rng, thread_rng};

fn one_of_n<R: Rng>(rng: &mut R, n: usize) -> usize {
    (1..n).fold(0, |keep, cand| {
        // Note that this will break if n is larger than u32::MAX
        if rng.gen_weighted_bool(cand as u32 + 1) {
            cand
        } else {
            keep
        }
    })
}

fn main() {
    const LINES: usize = 10;

    let mut dist = [0; LINES];
    let mut rng = thread_rng();

    for _ in 0..1_000_000 {
        let num = one_of_n(&mut rng, LINES);
        dist[num] += 1;
    }

    println!("{:?}", dist);
}
Output:
[100203, 100012, 99854, 99686, 99888, 99899, 99559, 100584, 100208, 100107]

Scala

def one_of_n(n: Int, i: Int = 1, j: Int = 1): Int =
  if (n < 1) i else one_of_n(n - 1, if (scala.util.Random.nextInt(j) == 0) n else i, j + 1)

def simulate(lines: Int, iterations: Int) = {
  val counts = new Array[Int](lines)
  for (_ <- 1 to iterations; i = one_of_n(lines) - 1) counts(i) = counts(i) + 1
  counts
}

println(simulate(10, 1000000) mkString "\n")
Output:
100014
100233
100146
100121
99796
99677
99948
99260
100299
100506

Seed7

$ include "seed7_05.s7i";

const func integer: one_of_n (in integer: n) is func
  result
    var integer: r is 1;
  local
    var integer: i is 0;
  begin
    for i range 2 to n do
      if rand(1, i) = 1 then
        r := i;
      end if;
    end for;
  end func;

const proc: main is func
  local
    var array integer: r is 10 times 0;
    var integer: i is 0;
  begin
    for i range 1 to 1000000 do
      incr(r[one_of_n(10)]);
    end for;
    for i range 1 to 10 do
      write(r[i] <& " ");
    end for;
    writeln;
  end func;

Output:

100372 99661 100264 99644 100180 99748 99718 100205 99714 100494 

Sidef

Translation of: Raku
func one_of_n(n) {
    var choice
    n.times { |i|
        choice = i if (1 > i.rand)
    }
    choice - 1
}

func one_of_n_test(n = 10, trials = 1_000_000) {
    var bins = []
    trials.times {
        bins[one_of_n(n)] := 0 ++
    }
    bins
}

say one_of_n_test()
Output:
99838 100843 99696 100078 99973 100350 100054 99495 99540 100133

Swift

func one_of_n(n: Int) -> Int {
  var result = 1
  for i in 2...n {
    if arc4random_uniform(UInt32(i)) < 1 {
      result = i
    }
  }
  return result
}

var counts = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
for _ in 1..1_000_000 {
  counts[one_of_n(10)-1]++
}
  
println(counts)
Sample Output:
[100475, 99986, 99725, 100069, 99702, 100065, 99840, 100501, 100186, 99450]

Tcl

package require Tcl 8.5
proc 1ofN {n} {
    for {set line 1} {$line <= $n} {incr line} {
	if {rand() < 1.0/[incr fraction]} {
	    set result $line
	}
    }
    return $result
}

for {set i 0} {$i < 1000000} {incr i} {
    incr count([1ofN 10])
}
parray count;   # Alphabetic order, but convenient

Sample output:

count(1)  = 99862
count(10) = 100517
count(2)  = 100545
count(3)  = 100339
count(4)  = 99636
count(5)  = 99920
count(6)  = 99263
count(7)  = 100283
count(8)  = 99871
count(9)  = 99764

VBScript

Dim chosen(10)

For j = 1 To 1000000
	c = one_of_n(10)
	chosen(c) = chosen(c) + 1
Next

For k = 1 To 10
	WScript.StdOut.WriteLine k & ". " & chosen(k)
Next 

Function one_of_n(n)
	Randomize
	For i = 1 To n
		If Rnd(1) < 1/i Then
			one_of_n = i
		End If
	Next
End Function
Output:
1. 100082
2. 100358
3. 100184
4. 99573
5. 100404
6. 99544
7. 99884
8. 99995
9. 100081
10. 99895

Wren

Translation of: Kotlin
Library: Wren-fmt
import "random" for Random
import "./fmt" for Fmt

var rand = Random.new()

var oneOfN = Fn.new { |n|
    var choice = 1
    for (i in 2..n) {
        if (rand.float() < 1/i) choice = i
    }
    return choice
}

var n = 10
var freqs = List.filled(n, 0)
var reps = 1e6
for (i in 0...reps) {
    var num = oneOfN.call(n)
    freqs[num-1] = freqs[num-1] + 1
}
for (i in 1..n) Fmt.print("Line $-2d = $,7d", i, freqs[i-1])
Output:

Sample run:

Line 1  =  99,761
Line 2  =  99,876
Line 3  =  99,935
Line 4  = 100,020
Line 5  = 100,281
Line 6  = 100,329
Line 7  =  99,876
Line 8  =  99,810
Line 9  = 100,033
Line 10 = 100,079

XPL0

func One_of_n(N);
int  N, Choice, Line;
[Choice:= 1;
for Line:= 2 to N do
    if Ran(1_000_000) < 1_000_000/Line then Choice:= Line;
return Choice;
];

int Counters(1+10), I, N;
[for I:= 1 to 10 do Counters(I):= 0;
for I:= 1 to 1_000_000 do
    [N:= One_of_n(10);
    Counters(N):= Counters(N)+1;
    ];
for I:= 1 to 10 do
    [IntOut(0, Counters(I));
    ChOut(0, ^ );
    ];
]
Output:
99477 99885 99826 100174 99902 99766 100287 100125 100386 100172 

Yabasic

Translation of: FreeBASIC
dim elegido(10)

sub one_of_n (n)
    //asume que la primera línea es 1
    local L1
    for L1 = 1 to n
        if int(ran(L1)) = 0 then opcion = L1 : endif
    next L1
    return opcion
end sub

for L0 = 1 to 1000000
    c = one_of_n(10)
    elegido(c) = elegido(c) + 1
next L0

for L0 = 1 to 10
    print L0, ".  ", elegido(L0)
next L0

end

zkl

Translation of: Python
fcn one_of_n(lines){ # lines is any iterable
#if 0  // iterative
   choice:=Void;
   foreach i,line in ([0..].zip(lines)){
      if((0).random(i+1)==0) choice=line;
   }
   return(choice);
#else  // functional
   [0..].zip(lines).pump(Ref(Void).set,fcn([(n,line)])
      { if((0).random(n+1)==0) line else Void.Skip }).value
#endif
}
 
fcn one_of_n_test(n=10, trials=0d1_000_000){
   bins:=n.pump(List(),0); // List(0,0,0...)
   if(n){ foreach i in (trials){ bins[one_of_n((n).walker())]+=1 } }
   return(bins);
}

println(one_of_n_test());

A Ref is a strong reference to a value, Ref.set(value) sets the Ref, Ref.value gets the value. A pump pumps data through a list of functions into a sink, Void.Skip skips this value (ie same as continue in a loop).

Output:
L(99402,99786,99751,100299,100356,99579,100280,100073,100308,100166)