Probabilistic measures and algorithms arising from the Macdonald symmetric functions

The Macdonald symmetric functions are used to define measures on the set of all partitions of all integers. Probabilistic algorithms are given for growing partitions according to these measures. The case of Hall-Littlewood polynomials is related to the finite classical groups, and the corresponding algorithms simplify. The case of Schur functions leads to a $q$-analog of Plancharel measure, and a conditioned version of the corresponding algorithms yields generalizations of the hook walk of combinatorics.