How to randomly pick an element from an array

Question

I am looking for solution to pick number randomly from an integer array.

For example I have an array new int[]{1,2,3}, how can I pick a number randomly?

Answer 1

Since you have java 8, another solution is to use Stream API.

new Random().ints(1, 500).limit(500).forEach(p -> System.out.println(list[p]));

Where 1 is the lowest int generated (inclusive) and 500 is the highest (exclusive). limit means that your stream will have a length of 500.

 int[] list = new int[] {1,2,3,4,5,6};
 new Random().ints(0, list.length).limit(10).forEach(p -> System.out.println(list[p])); 

Random is from java.util package.

Answer 2

Take a look at this question:

How do I generate random integers within a specific range in Java?

You will want to generate a random number from 0 to your integers length - 1. Then simply get your int from your array:

myArray[myRandomNumber];

Answer 3

package workouts;

import java.util.Random;

/**
 *
 * @author Muthu
 */
public class RandomGenerator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
     for(int i=0;i<5;i++){
         rndFunc();
     } 
    }
     public static void rndFunc(){
           int[]a= new int[]{1,2,3};
           Random rnd= new Random();
           System.out.println(a[rnd.nextInt(a.length)]);
       }
}

Answer 4

Use the Random class:

int getRandomNumber(int[] arr)
{
  return arr[(new Random()).nextInt(arr.length)];
}

Answer 5

Java has a Random class in the java.util package. Using it you can do the following:

Random rnd = new Random();
int randomNumberFromArray = array[rnd.nextInt(3)];

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

You can also try this approach..

public static <E> E[] pickRandom_(int n,E ...item) {
        List<E> copy = Arrays.asList(item);
        Collections.shuffle(copy);
        if (copy.size() > n) {
            return (E[]) copy.subList(0, n).toArray();
        } else {
            return (E[]) copy.toArray();
        }

    }