std::random_shuffle, std::shuffle

 

C++

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Technical Specifications

 

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C library
qsort	bsearch

 

Defined in header <algorithm>
template< class RandomIt > void random_shuffle( RandomIt first, RandomIt last );	(1)	(until C++17) (deprecated in C++14)
	(2)
template< class RandomIt, class RandomFunc > void random_shuffle( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, RandomFunc& r );			(until C++11)
template< class RandomIt, class RandomFunc > void random_shuffle( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, RandomFunc&& r );			(since C++11) (until C++17) (deprecated in C++14)
template< class RandomIt, class URNG > void shuffle( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, URNG&& g );		(3)	(since C++11)

Reorders the elements in the given range [first, last) such that each possible permutation of those elements has equal probability of appearance.

1) The random number generator is implementation-defined, but the function std::rand is often used.

2) The random number generator is the function object r.

3) The random number generator is the function object g.

Parameters

first, last	-	the range of elements to shuffle randomly
r	-	function object returning a randomly chosen value of type convertible to std::iterator_traits<RandomIt>::difference_type in the interval [0,n) if invoked as r(n)
g	-	a UniformRandomNumberGenerator whose result type is convertible to std::iterator_traits<RandomIt>::difference_type
Type requirements
- RandomIt must meet the requirements of ValueSwappable and RandomAccessIterator.
- URNG must meet the requirements of UniformRandomNumberGenerator.

Return value

(none)

Complexity

Linear in the distance between first and last

Possible implementation

First version
template< class RandomIt > void random_shuffle( RandomIt first, RandomIt last ) { typename std::iterator_traits<RandomIt>::difference_type i, n; n = last - first; for (i = n-1; i > 0; --i) { using std::swap; swap(first[i], first[std::rand() % (i+1)]); } }
Second version
template<class RandomIt, class RandomFunc> void random_shuffle(RandomIt first, RandomIt last, RandomFunc&& r) { typename std::iterator_traits<RandomIt>::difference_type i, n; n = last - first; for (i = n-1; i > 0; --i) { using std::swap; swap(first[i], first[r(i+1)]); } }
Third version
template<class RandomIt, class UniformRandomNumberGenerator> void shuffle(RandomIt first, RandomIt last, UniformRandomNumberGenerator&& g) { typedef typename std::iterator_traits<RandomIt>::difference_type diff_t; typedef typename std::make_unsigned<diff_t>::type udiff_t; typedef typename std::uniform_int_distribution<udiff_t> distr_t; typedef typename distr_t::param_type param_t;   distr_t D; diff_t n = last - first; for (diff_t i = n-1; i > 0; --i) { using std::swap; swap(first[i], first[D(g, param_t(0, i))]); } }

Example

The following code randomly shuffles the integers 1..10:

Run this code

#include <random>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    std::vector<int> v = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};
 
    std::random_device rd;
    std::mt19937 g(rd());
 
    std::shuffle(v.begin(), v.end(), g);
 
    std::copy(v.begin(), v.end(), std::ostream_iterator<int>(std::cout, " "));
    std::cout << "\n";
}

Possible output:

8 6 10 4 2 3 7 1 9 5

See also

next_permutation	generates the next greater lexicographic permutation of a range of elements (function template)
prev_permutation	generates the next smaller lexicographic permutation of a range of elements (function template)