How do I shuffle an array in Swift?

Question

How do I randomize or shuffle the elements within an array in Swift? For example, if my array consists of 52 playing cards, I want to shuffle the array in order to shuffle the deck.

Answer 1

This is how to shuffle one array with a seed in Swift 3.0.

extension MutableCollection where Indices.Iterator.Element == Index {
    mutating func shuffle() {
        let c = count
        guard c > 1 else { return }


        for (firstUnshuffled , unshuffledCount) in zip(indices, stride(from: c, to: 1, by: -1)) {
            srand48(seedNumber)
            let number:Int = numericCast(unshuffledCount)
            let r = floor(drand48() * Double(number))

            let d: IndexDistance = numericCast(Int(r))
            guard d != 0 else { continue }
            let i = index(firstUnshuffled, offsetBy: d)
            swap(&self[firstUnshuffled], &self[i])
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

This is what I use:

func newShuffledArray(array:NSArray) -> NSArray {
    var mutableArray = array.mutableCopy() as! NSMutableArray
    var count = mutableArray.count
    if count>1 {
        for var i=count-1;i>0;--i{
            mutableArray.exchangeObjectAtIndex(i, withObjectAtIndex: Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(i+1))))
        }
    }
    return mutableArray as NSArray
}

Answer 3

Edit: As noted in other answers, Swift 4.2 finally adds random number generation to the standard library, complete with array shuffling.

However, the GKRandom / GKRandomDistribution suite in GameplayKit can still be useful with the new RandomNumberGenerator protocol — if you add extensions to the GameplayKit RNGs to conform to the new standard library protocol, you can easily get:

• sendable RNGs (that can reproduce a "random" sequence when needed for testing)
• RNGs that sacrifice robustness for speed
• RNGs that produce non-uniform distributions

...and still make use of the nice new "native" random APIs in Swift.

The rest of this answer concerns such RNGs and/or their use in older Swift compilers.

---

There are some good answers here already, as well as some good illustrations of why writing your own shuffle can be error-prone if you're not careful.

In iOS 9, macOS 10.11, and tvOS 9 (or later), you don't have to write your own. There's an efficient, correct implementation of Fisher-Yates in GameplayKit (which, despite the name, is not just for games).

If you just want a unique shuffle:

let shuffled = GKRandomSource.sharedRandom().arrayByShufflingObjects(in: array)

If you want to be able to replicate a shuffle or series of shuffles, choose and seed a specific random source; e.g.

let lcg = GKLinearCongruentialRandomSource(seed: mySeedValue)
let shuffled = lcg.arrayByShufflingObjects(in: array)

In iOS 10 / macOS 10.12 / tvOS 10, there's also a convenience syntax for shuffling via an extension on NSArray. Of course, that's a little cumbersome when you're using a Swift Array (and it loses its element type on coming back to Swift):

let shuffled1 = (array as NSArray).shuffled(using: random) // -> [Any]
let shuffled2 = (array as NSArray).shuffled() // use default random source

But it's pretty easy to make a type-preserving Swift wrapper for it:

extension Array {
    func shuffled(using source: GKRandomSource) -> [Element] {
        return (self as NSArray).shuffled(using: source) as! [Element]
    }
    func shuffled() -> [Element] {
        return (self as NSArray).shuffled() as! [Element]
    }
}
let shuffled3 = array.shuffled(using: random)
let shuffled4 = array.shuffled()

Answer 4

Working Array Extension (mutating & non-mutating)

Swift 4.1 / Xcode 9

The top answer is deprecated, so I took it upon myself to create my own extension to shuffle an array in the newest version of Swift, Swift 4.1 (Xcode 9):

extension Array {

// Non-mutating shuffle
    var shuffled : Array {
        let totalCount : Int = self.count
        var shuffledArray : Array = []
        var count : Int = totalCount
        var tempArray : Array = self
        for _ in 0..<totalCount {
            let randomIndex : Int = Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(count)))
            let randomElement : Element = tempArray.remove(at: randomIndex)
            shuffledArray.append(randomElement)
            count -= 1
        }
        return shuffledArray
    }

// Mutating shuffle
    mutating func shuffle() {
        let totalCount : Int = self.count
        var shuffledArray : Array = []
        var count : Int = totalCount
        var tempArray : Array = self
        for _ in 0..<totalCount {
            let randomIndex : Int = Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(count)))
            let randomElement : Element = tempArray.remove(at: randomIndex)
            shuffledArray.append(randomElement)
            count -= 1
        }
        self = shuffledArray
    }
}

---

Call Non-Mutating Shuffle [Array] -> [Array]:

let array = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]

print(array.shuffled)

This prints array in a random order.

---

Call Mutating Shuffle [Array] = [Array]:

var array = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]

array.shuffle() 
// The array has now been mutated and contains all of its initial 
// values, but in a randomized shuffled order

print(array) 

This prints array in its current order, which has already been randomly shuffled.

---

Hopes this works for everybody, if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, feel free to ask!

Answer 5

In SWIFT 4

func createShuffledSequenceOfNumbers(max:UInt)->[UInt] {

    var array:[UInt]! = []
    var myArray:[UInt]! = []
    for i in 1...max {
        myArray.append(i)
    }
    for i in 1...max {
        array.append(i)
    }
    var tempArray:[Int]! = []
    for index in 0...(myArray.count - 1) {

        var isNotFinded:Bool = true
        while(isNotFinded){

            let randomNumber = arc4random_uniform(UInt32(myArray.count))
            let randomIndex = Int(randomNumber)

            if(!tempArray.contains(randomIndex)){
                tempArray.append(randomIndex)

                array[randomIndex] = myArray[index]
                isNotFinded = false
            }
        }
    }

    return array
}

Answer 6

It stop at "swap(&self[i], &self[j])" when I upgrade the xCode version to 7.4 beta.
fatal error: swapping a location with itself is not supported

I found the reason that i = j (function of swap will exploded)

So I add a condition as below

if (i != j){
    swap(&list[i], &list[j])
}

YA! It's OK for me.