Algorithms with Random Input

Randomness arises in connection with algorithms and their analysis in at least two different ways, Some algorithms (sometimes called coin-flipping algorithms) provide their own randomness, perhaps through the use of random number generators, Sometimes, though, it is useful to analyze the performance of a deterministic algorithm under some assumption about the distribution of inputs, We briefly survey some work which gives a perspective on such problems, Next we discuss some of the techniques which are useful when carrying out this type of analysis, Finally, we briefly discuss the problem of choosing an appropriate distribution