Choosing a random file from a directory (with a large number of files) in Python

Question

I have a directory with a large number of files (~1mil). I need to choose a random file from this directory. Since there are so many files, os.listdir naturally tak

Answer 1

I'm not sure this is even possible. Even at the VFS or filesystem level, there is no guarantee that a directory entry count is even maintained. For instance many filesystems simply record the combined byte size of the directory entry structures contained in a given directory.

Estimation may be made if directory entries are fixed size structures, but this is uncommon now (consider LFN for FAT32). Even if a given filesystem did provide an entry count without needing to iterate through a directory, or if the VFS cached a record of a directories length, these would definitely be operating system, filesystem, and kernel specific.