How to generate a list of random numbers so their sum would be equal to a randomly chosen number

Question

I want to generate a list of random distribution of numbers so their sum would be equal to a randomly chosen number. For example, if randomly chosen number is 5, the distrib

Answer 1

In a loop, you could keep drawing a random number between 1 and the remaining sum until you've reached your total

from random import randint
def generate_values(n):
    values = []
    while n > 0:
        value = randint(1, n)
        values.append(value)
        n -= value
    return values

A few samples of such a function

>>> generate_values(20)
[17, 1, 1, 1]
>>> generate_values(20)
[10, 4, 4, 1, 1]
>>> generate_values(20)
[14, 4, 1, 1]
>>> generate_values(20)
[5, 2, 4, 1, 5, 1, 1, 1]
>>> generate_values(20)
[2, 13, 5]
>>> generate_values(20)
[14, 3, 2, 1]