Cannot get the shuffle method to collect the list

Question

I am having this silly issue and I have no idea how to fix, im creating a blackjack game and I have a card class with a Deck() and Shuffle() methods, and a dealer class that will hand out the cards.

The shuffle method is an Extension method that I got on this site funny enough but I cant get it to receive the list of cards from the Deck() method...

I did originaly use a dictionary and had trouble shuffling the dictionary and asked for help on this site Here And they suggested using a list and now im here.

Here is the Card and Dealer Classes

Card.cs

public static class Card
{
    private static List<string> deckOfCards = new List<string>();


    private static string[] Suite = new string[4] {"Clubs", "Hearts", "Spades", "Diamonds" };
    private static string[] FaceValue = new string[13] {"Ace", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "Jack", "Queen", "King" };


    public static void Deck()
    {
        for (int s = 0; s < 4; s++ )
        {
            string sut = Suite[s];

            for (int fV = 0; fV < 13; fV++)
            {
                string value = FaceValue[fV];

                deckOfCards.Add(sut + value);
            }
        }
        // End of For loop.
        Shuffle(deckOfCards);
    }

    public static void Shuffle<T>(this IList<T> list)
    {
        Random rng = new Random();
        int n = list.Count;
        while (n > 1)
        {
            n--;
            int k = rng.Next(n + 1);
            T value = list[k];
            list[k] = list[n];
            list[n] = value;
        }
    }
}

Dealer.cs

class Dealer
{
    private List<string> randomisedCards = new List<string>();

    public Dealer()
    {
        randomisedCards.Shuffle();
    }


    public string dealCard()
    {
        string randCard = randomisedCards[0];
        randomisedCards.RemoveAt(0);

        return randCard;
    }
}

Criticism is highlight recommended as that's how you learn but please keep in mind that im still a beginner and have no experience at all.

Thanks

Answer 1

I think it is a horrible idea to save the Deck as a static value in your class, I would recommend this:

public static class Cards
{
    private static string[] Suite = new string[4] {"Clubs", "Hearts", "Spades", "Diamonds" };
    private static string[] FaceValue = new string[13] {"Ace", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "Jack", "Queen", "King" };


    public static List<string> CreateDeck()
    {
        var deck = new List<string>();
        for (int s = 0; s < 4; s++ )
        {
            string sut = Suite[s];

            for (int fV = 0; fV < 13; fV++)
            {
                string value = FaceValue[fV];

                deck.Add(sut + value);
            }
        }
        // End of For loop.
        Shuffle(deck);
        return deck;
    }

    private static void Shuffle<T>(this IList<T> list)
    {
        Random rng = new Random();
        int n = list.Count;
        while (n > 1)
        {
            n--;
            int k = rng.Next(n + 1);
            T value = list[k];
            list[k] = list[n];
            list[n] = value;
        }
    }
}

use it like this:

class Dealer
{
    private List<string> randomisedCards;

    public Dealer()
    {
        randomisedCards = Cards.CreateDeck();
    }


    public string dealCard()
    {
        string randCard = randomisedCards[0];
        randomisedCards.RemoveAt(0);

        return randCard;
    }
}

Please note that I did not check your code (CreateDeck, Shuffle, ...)

Also I would recommend making this cleaner by:

• implementing a class for your Card (Suite, Face)
• implementing a class for your Deck (collection of cards)
• make everything immutable (on the outside - meaning: you can shuffle your cards as is, but don't let someone change your deck - create new ones instead for the interface - for example, drawing a card by the dealer should give you a card and another deck (lacking this card) - this improves the testability of your code