What's a good algorithm for a random, uneven distribution of a fixed amount of a resource?
- by NickC
Problem
I have X, a positive integer, of some resource, R.
There are N potential targets.
I want to distribute all of R to the N targets in some "interesting" way.
"Interesting" means:
Some targets may not get any R.
It should rarely be near even (with a majority of target getting near X/N of the resource).
There should be at least a small chance of one target getting all of R.
Bad solutions
The naive approach would be to pick a random target and give one R to it and repeat X times. This would result in too even of an approach.
The next idea is to pick a random number between 1 and X and give it to a random target. This results in too large of a number (at least X/2 on average) being given to one target.
Question
This algorithm will be used frequently and I want the distribution to be interesting and uneven so that the surprise doesn't wear off for users.
Is there a good algorithm for something in between these two approaches, that fits the definition of interesting above?
